Abstract
Background. Rehabilitation treatments have acute beneficial effects in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients, but whether the effects persist over time is unclear. Objective. To assess whether an intensive rehabilitation treatment (IRT) is effective in improving motor performance compared with a control group in a 12-month follow-up, to investigate whether a second cycle administered after 1 year has the same efficacy as the first treatment, and to determine whether IRT reduces the need for increasing levodopa dosage. Methods. A total of 50 PD patients were randomly assigned to 2 groups; 25 participants had 4 weeks of inpatient physical therapy that included treadmill and stabilometric platform training. At discharge, these patients were invited to continue doing the learned exercises. After 12 months, the same treatment was repeated. The control group of 25 patients received only pharmacological treatment and was invited to practice generic physical exercise at home. The rating scales used for the clinical evaluation were the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Sections II and III (UPDRS II and III) and total (UPDRS tot). Results. The authors found that the beneficial effects of IRT persisted over time. A second rehabilitation cycle administered after 1 year was as effective as the first treatment. At the end of the study, daily medication dosage was reduced in treated patients, whereas it was significantly increased in control patients. Conclusion. These findings suggest that the natural worsening of symptoms associated with PD can be effectively counteracted by a properly designed IRT.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 144-150 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Feb 2012 |
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Keywords
- Follow-up
- Parkinson's disease
- Rehabilitation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Clinical Neurology
- Rehabilitation
- Neurology
Cite this
Effectiveness of intensive inpatient rehabilitation treatment on disease progression in parkinsonian patients : A randomized controlled trial with 1-year follow-up. / Frazzitta, Giuseppe; Bertotti, Gabriella; Riboldazzi, Giulio; Turla, Marinella; Uccellini, Davide; Boveri, Natalia; Guaglio, Gabriele; Perini, Michele; Comi, Cristoforo; Balbi, Pietro; Maestri, Roberto.
In: Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, Vol. 26, No. 2, 02.2012, p. 144-150.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Effectiveness of intensive inpatient rehabilitation treatment on disease progression in parkinsonian patients
T2 - A randomized controlled trial with 1-year follow-up
AU - Frazzitta, Giuseppe
AU - Bertotti, Gabriella
AU - Riboldazzi, Giulio
AU - Turla, Marinella
AU - Uccellini, Davide
AU - Boveri, Natalia
AU - Guaglio, Gabriele
AU - Perini, Michele
AU - Comi, Cristoforo
AU - Balbi, Pietro
AU - Maestri, Roberto
PY - 2012/2
Y1 - 2012/2
N2 - Background. Rehabilitation treatments have acute beneficial effects in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients, but whether the effects persist over time is unclear. Objective. To assess whether an intensive rehabilitation treatment (IRT) is effective in improving motor performance compared with a control group in a 12-month follow-up, to investigate whether a second cycle administered after 1 year has the same efficacy as the first treatment, and to determine whether IRT reduces the need for increasing levodopa dosage. Methods. A total of 50 PD patients were randomly assigned to 2 groups; 25 participants had 4 weeks of inpatient physical therapy that included treadmill and stabilometric platform training. At discharge, these patients were invited to continue doing the learned exercises. After 12 months, the same treatment was repeated. The control group of 25 patients received only pharmacological treatment and was invited to practice generic physical exercise at home. The rating scales used for the clinical evaluation were the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Sections II and III (UPDRS II and III) and total (UPDRS tot). Results. The authors found that the beneficial effects of IRT persisted over time. A second rehabilitation cycle administered after 1 year was as effective as the first treatment. At the end of the study, daily medication dosage was reduced in treated patients, whereas it was significantly increased in control patients. Conclusion. These findings suggest that the natural worsening of symptoms associated with PD can be effectively counteracted by a properly designed IRT.
AB - Background. Rehabilitation treatments have acute beneficial effects in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients, but whether the effects persist over time is unclear. Objective. To assess whether an intensive rehabilitation treatment (IRT) is effective in improving motor performance compared with a control group in a 12-month follow-up, to investigate whether a second cycle administered after 1 year has the same efficacy as the first treatment, and to determine whether IRT reduces the need for increasing levodopa dosage. Methods. A total of 50 PD patients were randomly assigned to 2 groups; 25 participants had 4 weeks of inpatient physical therapy that included treadmill and stabilometric platform training. At discharge, these patients were invited to continue doing the learned exercises. After 12 months, the same treatment was repeated. The control group of 25 patients received only pharmacological treatment and was invited to practice generic physical exercise at home. The rating scales used for the clinical evaluation were the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Sections II and III (UPDRS II and III) and total (UPDRS tot). Results. The authors found that the beneficial effects of IRT persisted over time. A second rehabilitation cycle administered after 1 year was as effective as the first treatment. At the end of the study, daily medication dosage was reduced in treated patients, whereas it was significantly increased in control patients. Conclusion. These findings suggest that the natural worsening of symptoms associated with PD can be effectively counteracted by a properly designed IRT.
KW - Follow-up
KW - Parkinson's disease
KW - Rehabilitation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84856327636&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84856327636&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1545968311416990
DO - 10.1177/1545968311416990
M3 - Article
C2 - 21844282
AN - SCOPUS:84856327636
VL - 26
SP - 144
EP - 150
JO - Journal of Neurologic Rehabilitation
JF - Journal of Neurologic Rehabilitation
SN - 1545-9683
IS - 2
ER -