Abstract
BackgroundProgression of freezing of gait, a common pathological gait in Parkinson’s disease, is an important risk factor for diagnosing the disease and has been shown to predispose patients to easy falls, loss of independent living ability, and reduced quality of life. Treating Parkinson’s disease with freezing of gait is very difficult, while the use of medicine and operation has been ineffective. Music exercise therapy, which entails listening to music as you exercise, has been proposed as a treatment technology that can change patients’ behavior, emotions, and physiological activity. In recent years, music exercise therapy has been widely used in treatment of motor disorders and neurological diseases and achieved remarkable results. Results from our earlier pilot study revealed that music exercise therapy can improve the freezing of gait of Parkinson’s patients and improve their quality of life. Therefore, we aim to validate clinical efficacy of this therapy on freezing of gait of Parkinson’s patients using a larger sample size.Methods/designThis three-arm randomized controlled trial will evaluate clinical efficacy of music exercise therapy in improving the freezing of gait in Parkinson’s patients. We will recruit a total of 81 inpatients with Parkinson’s disease, who meet the trial criteria. The patients will randomly receive music exercise with and without music as well as routine rehabilitation therapies, followed by analysis of changes in their gait and limb motor function after 4 weeks of intervention. We will first use a three-dimensional gait analysis system to evaluate changes in patients’ gait, followed by assessment of their limb function, activity of daily living and fall risk.DiscussionThe findings of this trial are expected to affirm the clinical application of this therapy for future management of the disease.Trial registrationChinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR1900026063. Registered on September 20, 2019
Highlights
Progression of freezing of gait, a common pathological gait in Parkinson’s disease, is an important risk factor for diagnosing the disease and has been shown to predispose patients to easy falls, loss of independent living ability, and reduced quality of life
The findings of this trial are expected to affirm the clinical application of this therapy for future management of the disease
We found that music exercise therapy could effectively improve the rehabilitation state of patients with stroke, spinal cord injury, Parkinson’s disease, and other nervous system disorders
Summary
Progression of freezing of gait, a common pathological gait in Parkinson’s disease, is an important risk factor for diagnosing the disease and has been shown to predispose patients to easy falls, loss of independent living ability, and reduced quality of life. Results from our earlier pilot study revealed that music exercise therapy can improve the freezing of gait of Parkinson’s patients and improve their quality of life. The condition is characterized by short-term retardation or very short pace, and usually occurs during the start of a step or change of direction [5]. Patients often describe their feet as “stuck” while trying to lift them forward, as if they were stuck to the ground. Modern therapies for management of Parkinson’s disease have aimed to control symptoms, reduce disability, and improve quality of life [8]. Drug therapy can only be used as an adjunctive therapy for prevention of FOG
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