Abstract
Introduction
Non-pharmacological interventions are increasingly being acknowledged as valuable options to overcome or reduce functional problems in patients with Parkinson’s disease. In the last decades, Nordic Walking was employed and investigated by rehabilitation specialists. Clinical trials on the effect of Nordic Walking on motor and non-motor Parkinson’s disease symptoms are few, small, and heterogeneous for inclusion criteria and intervention protocols. As a result, Nordic Walking training cannot be recommended as a standard rehabilitative tool in Parkinson’s disease patients.
Methods
This randomized controlled single-blind trial recruited Parkinson’s disease patients at a Hoehn and Yahr stage between 2 and 3 assigned to a Nordic Walking vs. Walking group. Subjects were extensively assessed for motor and non-motor symptoms at baseline and after 8 weeks of intervention period. To study the effects of intervention on the overall sample, paired-sample t test and Wilcoxon signed rank test were used, while differences between groups were estimated with general linear models repeated-measure and Mann–Whitney U test.
Results
Among 32 patients who ended the study period, improvements were observed in the following assessments: global motor outcome (p 0.001), dynamic and static balance ability (p 0.005; p 0.002), global non-motor symptoms outcome (p 0.003), fatigue (p 0.016), anxiety (p 0.043), and quality of life (p 0.003). The treatment group (Nordic Walking) failed to show any difference compared to the control group (Walking) in all considered outcomes.
Conclusion
Nordic Walking was not superior compared to Walking in the studied population. Moderate intensity outdoor group activities like Nordic Walking and Walking seem to improve motor and non-motor symptoms parameters in patients with Parkinson’s disease.
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the physiotherapists of the physical and rehabilitation medicine ward in Villa Salus Hospital, as well as the ‘Kardines’ association and the Nordic Walking instructors for their participation and enthusiasm in this project.
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This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or non-for-profit sectors.
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SG: conception, organization, execution of research project; review and critique of statistical analysis; writing, review and critique of the first draft; AA: design and execution of statistical analysis; writing and review of the first draft; AL: execution of research project; review and critique of statistical analysis; writing and review of the first draft; DZ: execution of research project; AS: conception of the research project; review and critique of statistical analysis and of the first draft. All authors have approved the final version of the article.
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Granziera, S., Alessandri, A., Lazzaro, A. et al. Nordic Walking and Walking in Parkinson’s disease: a randomized single-blind controlled trial. Aging Clin Exp Res 33, 965–971 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-020-01617-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-020-01617-w