Balance training in individuals with Parkinson's disease: Biodex Stability System versus supervised exercise program

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of balance training, using the Biodex Stability System (BSS) or supervised exercises, on balance and gait in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD).DESIGN: This was a prospective, pilot interventional cohort study.PARTICIPANTS: Twenty individuals with PD at Hoehn and Yahr stages I–III were included in the study.INTERVENTIONS: Ten subjects in the BSS group and 10 subjects in the non-BSS group (supervised balance exercise training without BSS) participated in 55-min exercise sessions 3 times a week for 4 weeks.OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: Postural sway measures-sway area, anterior-posterior (AP) and medial-lateral (ML) center of pressure path length, and root mean square velocity in AP and ML directions were collected at baseline and postintervention. Secondary outcome measures of the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), spatiotemporal gait measures-gait velocity, step length, and stride length, Timed Up and Go, and 6-min walk test data were also collected at baseline and postexercise intervention for both the groups.RESULTS: Improvements in postural sway were seen in the BSS group postintervention (sway area mean change = −435.3 mm2; 95% confidence interval = −818.5, −52.2). Postural sway data from the non-BSS group were unavailable, due to a technical failure. All secondary outcome measures improved in both the groups; however, we did not find any significant between-group differences in any of the secondary measures.CONCLUSIONS: A 4-week exercise training using BSS improved measures of balance and gait in individuals with PD. However, improvements were also seen after an exercise program that did not use BSS. This suggests that at least for the measures used in this study, there were no differences between BSS training and supervised exercise balance training.