None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
100,000 Australians have Parkinson’s disease (PD) at any one time and up to 68% of these people will fall each year. Reduced balance, reduced leg muscle strength and freezing of gait have been identified as risk factors for falls in people with PD. This project will test the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of an exercise program in reducing falls in people with PD. Participants will be randomly allocated to an exercise group or a control group. Both groups will receive standardized falls prevention advice and will keep a falls diary. The exercise group will also participate in a home-based balance and leg strengthening exercise program for 6 months, with the option of attending a once a month support-group based exercise class. Evidence-based cueing strategies will be used to assist participants to manage freezing. The study has been designed using the criteria developed by the Cochrane database and the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) for best practice in the conduct of randomized controlled trials. The effect of the program on frequency of falls, lower limb strength, balance, fear of falling and quality of life will be investigated as well as the cost-effectiveness of the program. Any reduction in the frequency of falls for people with PD will reduce the personal and financial costs to individuals with PD, their families, health care resources and the community.
Interventions
The intervention group will undertake a 40-60 min program of home-based balance and leg strength exercises three times a week for six months. Evidence-based cueing strategies will be used to assist patients to manage freezing. In addition, participants can choose to participate in a once a month exercise class (for six months) conducted by a physiotherapist in association with their local Parkinson’s NSW/ACT Support Group or hospital.
Participants will be provided with a booklet containing sa
The intervention group will undertake a 40-60 min program of home-based balance and leg strength exercises three times a week for six months. Evidence-based cueing strategies will be used to assist patients to manage freezing. In addition, participants can choose to participate in a once a month exercise class (for six months) conducted by a physiotherapist in association with their local Parkinson’s NSW/ACT Support Group or hospital. Participants will be provided with a booklet containing safety precautions, instructions and photographs of exercises for use in exercise sessions at home, as well as information sheets detailing strategies for managing freezing. In addition, they will be provided with a logbook for recording exercises completed and any adverse effects of exercise (eg, muscle soreness). Participants will also receive standardised falls prevention advice and will be provided with a falls diary for recording falls.
Sponsors
The University of Sydney
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Prevention
Masking
Blinded (masking used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
40 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
(1) Have a diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson’s disease (2) Have adapted to their current anti-Parkinsonian medication for at least 2 weeks (3) Are aged 40 years or over (4) Are able to walk independently (with or without a walking aid) (5) Have a history of falls (at least one fall in the previous 12 months) or are at risk of falls
Exclusion criteria
(1) Have a Mini-Mental State Examination score of < 24 (2) Suffer from unstable cardiovascular disease or other uncontrolled chronic conditions that would interfere with the safety and conduct of the training and testing protocol or interpretation of the results
Outcome results
None listed