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The effects of arm crank training on aerobic capacity, physical performance, quality of life, and health-related disability in patients with Parkinson’s disease

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Abstract

Background

Aerobic exercise training contributes to improvement of cardiopulmonary capacity, mobility, neurological function, and quality of life.

Aims

To investigate the effects of arm crank ergometer training on aerobic capacity, quality of life, and Parkinson’s disease (PD)-related disability

Methods

Seventeen patients with PD were recruited to study. Assessments were performed at baseline and at the end of an 8-week arm crank ergometer (ACE) training program (3 days/week; 1 h per session, 50–70% VO2peak) with patients acting as their own control. Outcome measures included aerobic capacity assessment, 6-min walk test (6MWT), timed up and go test (TUG), Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire-39 (PDQ-39), Beck Depression Index (BDI), the Falls Efficacy Scale (FES), and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA).

Results

At the end of the study, an increase of 30.49% in aerobic capacity was observed. Statistically significant improvements were found for the 6MWT (p = 0.001), TUG test (p = 0.001), UPDRS total score (p = 0.002), quality of life assessed with PDQ-39 (p = 0.006), BDI (p = 0.001), and FES scores (p = 0.002) after an 8-week ACE training. No significant effect on MoCA was found (p = 0.264).

Conclusion

An 8-week ACE training led to significant improvement in aerobic capacity, physical performance, and PD-related disabilities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Mersin University, 33150, Mersin, Turkey

    Figen Dağ & Özlem Bölgen Çimen

  2. Okan Doğu, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Mersin University, 33150, Mersin, Turkey

    Okan Doğu

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  1. Figen Dağ
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  2. Özlem Bölgen Çimen
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  3. Okan Doğu
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by [Figen Dağ], [Özlem Bölgen Çimen], and [Okan Doğu]. The first draft of the manuscript was written by [Figen Dağ], and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Figen Dağ.

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The study was approved by the local Ethics Committee of Clinical Research (Protocol Number: 2018–130).

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Dağ, F., Çimen, Ö.B. & Doğu, O. The effects of arm crank training on aerobic capacity, physical performance, quality of life, and health-related disability in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Ir J Med Sci 191, 1341–1348 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-021-02772-3

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