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Dance in Parkinson's Disease. A Greek Pilot Study

Effects of a Structured Dance Program in Parkinson's Disease. A Greek Pilot Study

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT05134506
Enrollment
16
Registered
2021-11-26
Start date
2019-05-28
Completion date
2019-07-31
Last updated
2021-11-26

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Parkinson Disease

Keywords

Parkinson's Disease, Dance, Dance for Parkinson's, Quality of Life, Depression, Fatigue, Cognitive Functions

Brief summary

Dance for Parkinson's Disease® (DfPD®) is a structured dance program that has never been evaluated in Greek PD population. This study assesses for the first time the efficacy, safety and feasibility of DfPD® program in Greek PD patients. A total of 16 early-to-mid-stage PD patients underwent a total of 16 60-min classes of adjusted to Greek music and dance culture DfPD®, twice weekly, over 8 weeks. Assessments were performed at baseline and at the end of the study period and included quality of life, depressive symptoms, fatigue, cognitive functions, balance and body mass index. Safety and feasibility were also assessed.

Detailed description

Parkinson's Disease (PD) is an idiopathic, neurodegenerative, and progressive movement disorder caused mainly by dysfunction of dopaminergic cells of the substantia nigra. Numerous studies demonstrate the benefits of regular physical exercise in PD, with aerobic exercise having a greater neuroprotective effect by stimulating brain neuroplasticity. People with PD are more easily motivated to attend dance classes systematically than other forms of exercise, they have a high compliance rate with low dropouts, and often continue to practice dance outside the dance intervention. DfPD® (Dance for Parkinson's Disease®, or Dance for PD®) was developed by the Brooklyn Parkinson Group (BPG) in collaboration with the Mark Morris Dance Group (MMDG) in 2001.This intervention has previously been shown to exert beneficial effect on QoL, motor functions, cognition, self-efficacy, anxiety and depression in people with PD. To the investigators' knowledge, there is no study investigating the effect of any structured dance program in Greek PD patients. Furthermore, no study to date has investigated the effect of DfPD® on PD patients' fatigue. The present pilot study aimed at evaluating for the first time the efficacy, safety and feasibility of a culturally adjusted DfPD® program in Greek patients with early-to-mid-stage PD. This is a prospective, non-randomized, uncontrolled, open-label, pilot study. A total of 16 early-to-mid-stage PD patients underwent a total of 16 60-min classes of adjusted to Greek music and dance culture DfPD®, twice weekly, over 8 weeks. Assessments were performed at baseline and at the end of the study period and included quality of life, depressive symptoms, fatigue, cognitive functions, balance and body mass index. Safety and feasibility were also assessed.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALDance for PD® classes

The intervention consisted of 16 60-min classes, performed twice weekly over a period of 8 weeks and instructed by a single researcher who had the approval to use it for research reasons.

Sponsors

University of West Attica
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Age ≥18 years * An established diagnosis of idiopathic PD of an early-to-moderate severity; that is from 0 to 2,5 according to Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y) stages * Ability to understand, write and speak in Greek * Written consent for participating into the study

Exclusion criteria

* A diagnosis of a non-PD tremor disorder * Moderate-to-severe PD (≥3 H&Y stages) due to a high falls risk * Serious health or disability issues (either physical or mental) due of which exercise is not permitted and/or basic instructions during the program cannot be followed * Mental disorder not related to PD * Any disease other than PD which could affect mobility levels

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Assessment of Recruitment RatesStart of Recruitment (-3 months), Baseline (week 1)Target, up to 2 months for 16 participants.
Change in total score of Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire-8Baseline (week 1), end of intervention (week 10)Minimum score 0, Maximum score 100. A higher score indicates worse quality of life.
Occurence of Emergent Adverse EventsDuring the intervention (week 2-9)Occurrence of adverse events comprising falls, injuries, muscle soreness or excessive fatigue.
Financial Feasibility AssessmentDuring the intervention (week 2-9)No cost for the studio and the dance instructor.
Adherence and Attrition AssessmentDuring the intervention (week 2-9)Adherence and attrition rates; an adherence rate ≥70% is considered as high in elderly with functional limitations, and attrition rate ≤15% is considered acceptable by the PEDro scale.
Assessment of Willingness to Continue the Program after the InterventionEnd of intervention (week 10)Verbal statement for continuing the program after the end of the intervention

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in total score of Parkinson Fatigue Scale-16Baseline (week 1), end of intervention (week 10)Minimum score 1, Maximum score 5. A higher score indicates more fatigue.
Change in total score of Montreal Cognitive AssessmentBaseline (week 1), end of intervention (week 10)Minimum score is 0, Maximum score 30. Lower scores indicate cognitive impairment.
Change in total score of Berg Balance ScaleBaseline (week 1), end of intervention (week 10)Minimum score is 0, Maximum score is 56. Lower scores indicate worse balance.
Change in Body Mass IndexBaseline (week 1), end of intervention (week 10)Lower scores than 18,5 indicate underweight, scores of 18,5-24,9 indicate normal weight, scores of 25-29,9 indicate overweight and scores of over 30 indicate obesity.
Change in total score of Beck Depression Inventory-IIBaseline (week 1), end of intervention (week 10)Minimum score 0, Maximum score 63. A higher score indicates worse depressive symptoms.

Countries

Greece

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026