A walking dance to improve gait speed for people with Parkinson disease: a pilot study.

Abstract

Aim: To determine the effectiveness of a targeted dance intervention to improve walking speed for people with Parkinson disease (PD) by increasing motor motivation. Materials & methods:11participants with PD participated in a 6-week pilot study in which they learned a contemporary dance composed of walking steps and designed to mimic everyday walking. 1 hclasses occurred twice-weekly. Results: Pre-and post-intervention assessments revealed a significant increase in gait speed (t9=3.30; p= 0.009), cadence (t9=2.345; p=0.044), and stride length (t9=3.757; p=0.005), and a significant decrease (improvement) in single support time variability (t9= -2.744; p= 0.022). There were nosignificant changes in other measures of gait variability nor in motor symptoms, mood and anxiety, extent of life-space mobility, or quality of life. No adverse events were reported. Conclusion: Joywalk provides preliminary evidence that a targeted physical intervention for people with PD may specifically counter bradykinesia.