Isabela Andrelino de Almeida

Dual task performance: a comparison between healthy elderly individuals and those with Parkinson’s disease

Introduction The dual tasks (DT) is learned during the whole life and a prerequisite in functional performance in different activities of daily living. Healthy elderly have reduced ability to perform motor activities and cognitive tasks simultaneously, compared to young adults. Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the elderly and classic motor symptoms coexist with prejudice in cognitive domains. Objective To compare balance, gait and performance in dual tasks of individuals with Parkinson’s disease and healthy elderly. Material and method Transversal study consisted of 21 individuals with PD, classified between 1.5 to 3 in Hoehn and Yahr scale and 21 healthy individuals. To evaluate the performance on simple tasks and dual tasks the participants were submitted to five simple tasks (motor) and each was associated with a cognitive task, featuring a DT. To balance and gait evaluation was used the following instruments: Berg Balance Scale, Tinetti Scale and Dynamic Gait Index. Results In respect to gait and performance in dual tasks, there was a statistically significant difference with the worst performance for the group of individuals with PD. Conclusion It was found that the group of elderly people with PD has lower performance in the execution of concurrent tasks when compared with healthy elderly, so the DT can be introduced in rehabilitation programs to improve the performance of these patients.

The Effect of An Exercise-Based Intervention to the Quality of Life of Patients Suffering From Parkinson's Disease: Prospective Study

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive, degenerative neurological disorder associated to profound changes in the quality of life of its survivors. This study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of a 16-week program of exercise-based interventions aiming to [1] improve motor symptoms and [2] provide social integration of PD patients. To achieve this goal, we analyzed the scores recorded by the Parkinson’s disease Quality of Life questionnaire (PDQL) before and after the intervention. Results revealed significant improvement in overall quality of life of our group of patients (p=0.002). The results also revealed significant improvements in scores recorded from two specific domains of the PDQL assessment tool; Parkinson Symptoms (p=0.002) and Social Functions (p=0.045). These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the 16-week exercise-based protocol proposed was effective to promote improvement in measurements of mobility and social integration of PD patients.

Fisioterapia baseada no treinamento de dupla tarefa no equilíbrio de indivíduos com Doença de Parkinson

Objetive : This study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of a physical therapy treatment protocol based in dual task training in balance in individuals with Parkinsons disease. Methods : Nine patients were evaluated before and after a physical therapy program based on an exercise protocol dual task, with 60 minutes, 2x/week. The following variables were investigated: Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), Balance Evaluation Systems Test (BESTest) and measurements of the Balance Protocol. Results : Significant differences were found in the motor domain values and the total score of UPDRS, in two sections and the total score values of BESTest, and two postures of Balance Assessment Protocol. Conclusion : The intervention was effective in balance, motor scores and total scores of the UPDRS, suggesting be an appropriate treatment for balance and evolution of the disease in the studied group. Descriptors: Parkinson Disease; Postural Balance; Physical Therapy Modalities; Rehabilitation.