Article

Postural instability (PI) is a disabling sign of Parkinson's disease
(PD) not easily amenable to treatment with medication. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the
effects of balance training on PI in patients with PD. METHODS : A total of 64
patients with PI were randomly assigned to the experimental group (n = 33) for
balance training or to the control group (n = 31) for general physical exercises.
Each patient received 21 treatment sessions of 50 minutes each. Patients were
evaluated by a blinded rater before and after treatment as well as 1 month
posttreatment using the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Activities-Specific Balance
Confidence Scale (ABC), postural transfer test, self-destabilization of the
center of foot pressure test, number of falls, Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating
Scale (UPDRS), modified Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y) Staging Scale, and Geriatric
Depression Scale (GDS). RESULTS: At the end of treatment, the experimental group
showed significant improvements in all outcome measures, except for the UPDRS and
the H&Y scale. Improvement was maintained at the 1-month follow-up in all outcome
measures except for the GDS. No significant changes in performance were observed
in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: A program of balance training can improve PI
in patients with PD.

Langue : ANGLAIS