What are the effects of aquatic physiotherapy exercises on speed and complex gait-related activities in individuals with Parkinson's disease?

Abstract

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a central nervous system disease that results in deficits in motor activities such as walking. Gait speed and step length are frequently reduced. Aquatic physiotherapy serves as a form of complementary treatment to promote improvements in the disease's motor symptoms. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of an aquatic physiotherapy training program on gait in individuals with PD. This is an interventional clinical study in which a group of participants with PD participated in an assessment on the ground of their usual and maximum gait speed using the 10-m Walk Test and complex activities related to gait using the Dynamic Gait Index (DGI) at baseline and 12 weeks of an aquatic physiotherapy intervention, twice a week for 50 min. For statistical analysis, the paired t-test and the Wilcoxon test were used. The study included 10 individuals with PD, in the intermediate stage of PD - H&Y 2 (60%) and 3 (40%), of both sexes with a mean age of 65.8 ± 13.69 years. There was a significant increase in usual gait speed (p = 0.001) and in the DGI score (p = 0.05), but there was no improvement in maximum gait speed (p = 0.119). The aquatic physiotherapy exercise program improved habitual gait speed and the performance of complex activities related to gait in this group individuals with PD.