Author(s)

Jesús Seco Calvo, Inés Gago Fernández, Juan Azael Herrero Alonso, Javier González Gallego, Nuria Garatachea Vallejo

Faculty of Health Sciences, University of León, Ponferrada, Spain.
Institute of Biomedicine (IBIOMED), University of León, León, Spain.
Institute of Biomedicine (IBIOMED), University of León, León, Spain;.
Research Center on Physical Disability, ASPAYM Castilla y León, Valladolid, Spain.

Objective: To compare 8-month effects ofmedical treatment plusrehabilitation on UPDRS scores ofparkinsonian patientswith that ofmedical treatment withoutrehabilitation.Design: Longtudinal randomized study. Participants:27 parkinsonian patients (69.50 ± 10.34 years). We divided our patient into two groups: control group (n = 9, received only medication therapy) and experiment- tal group (n = 18, received physiccal therapy and medication therapy). Intervention:The 8-month exercise interventions were twice-weekly 90-min sessions in group. UPDRS scales were measured before and after the interventions. Results: Two- factor ANOVA analyses revealed a significant main effect fromrehabilitation (p < 0.01) on UPDRS motor, ADL, and total, but not on UPDRS mental (p > 0.05). Post-hoc analysis shows that UPDRS motor increased in control group (+37%) meanwhile decreased in experimental group (–17%). UPDRS ADL increased significantly more in control group (+26%) than experimental group (+5%).UPDRS total increased in control group (+33%) meanwhile decreased in experimental group(–11%). Conclusions:The results of the study suggest that exercise interventions should be a necessary ongoing adjunct toparkinson’s diseasemedication.

Parkinson; Rehabilitation; UPDRS

Calvo, J., Fernández, I., Alonso, J., Gallego, J. and Vallejo, N. (2012) Efficacy of rehabilitation program in addition to pharmacological treatment during 8 months in Parkinson patients. Advances in Parkinson's Disease, 1, 11-16. doi: 10.4236/apd.2012.12003.