The effects of exergames on upper extremity performance, trunk mobility, gait, balance, and cognition in Parkinson’s disease: a randomized controlled study

Background In recent years, game-based exercises have been included more in the rehabilitation programs of Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients and positive effects have been observed. Aim This study aims to investigate the effects of innovative games particularly designed for neurological patients on upper extremity performance, trunk mobility and cognition in patients with PD. Method Twenty-three patients were enrolled in this randomized controlled study and randomly allocated into two groups: Exergames Program (EP) and Conventional Exercise Program (CP). Both groups received supervised physiotherapy sessions for 3 days a week and 8 weeks in total (24 sessions). Each session lasted 1 h. Evaluations were applied before and after the treatment: 9-Hole Peg Test (9-HPT), Minnesota Manual Dexterity Test (MMDT), Trunk Impairment Scale (TIS), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS), Timed Up and Go (TUG), Functional Reach Test (FRT), and Parkinson Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39). Results Twenty patients were included in the analysis because of the dropouts. Our findings showed that both groups improved significantly in 9-HPT dominant side, MMDT, TIS, MDS-UPDRS, TUG, FRT, and PDQ-39 ( p