Orfhlaith Ni Bhriain

Dance for People With Parkinson Disease: What Is the Evidence Telling Us?

OBJECTIVES (1) To appraise and synthesize the literature on dance interventions for individuals with Parkinson disease (PD); (2) to provide information regarding the frequency, intensity, duration, and type of dance used in these programs; and (3) to inform the development of future studies evaluating dance interventions in this population. DATA SOURCES Eight databases (MEDLINE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature [CINAHL], the Allied and Complementary Medicine Database [AMED], SPORTDiscus, PubMed, PubMed Central, Sage, and ScienceDirect) were electronically searched in April 2014. The references lists from the included articles were also searched. STUDY SELECTION Studies retrieved during the literature search were reviewed by 2 reviewers independently. Suitable articles were identified by applying inclusion criteria. DATA EXTRACTION Data regarding participants and the frequency, intensity, duration, and type of dance form used were extracted. The effect that each dance program had on defined outcomes and the feasibility of each program were also reviewed. DATA SYNTHESIS Thirteen articles were identified. The quality of studies varied, and methodological limitations were evident in some. The evidence evaluated suggests that two 1-hour dance classes per week over 10 to 13 weeks may have beneficial effects on endurance, motor impairment, and balance. CONCLUSIONS Dance may be helpful for some people with PD. This article provides preliminary information to aid clinicians when implementing dance programs for people with PD. Higher-quality multicenter studies are needed to determine the effect of other dance genres and the optimal therapy volume and intensity.

Dancing for Parkinson Disease: A Randomized Trial of Irish Set Dancing Compared With Usual Care

OBJECTIVE To examine the feasibility of a randomized controlled study design and to explore the benefits of a set dancing intervention compared with usual care. DESIGN Randomized controlled design, with participants randomized to Irish set dance classes or a usual care group. SETTING Community based. PARTICIPANTS Individuals with idiopathic Parkinson disease (PD) (N=90). INTERVENTIONS The dance group attended a 1.5-hour dancing class each week for 10 weeks and undertook a home dance program for 20 minutes, 3 times per week. The usual care group continued with their usual care and daily activities. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The primary outcome was feasibility, determined by recruitment rates, success of randomization and allocation procedures, attrition, adherence, safety, willingness of participants to be randomized, resource availability, and cost. Secondary outcomes were motor function (motor section of the Unified Parkinsons Disease Rating Scale), quality of life (Parkinsons Disease Questionnaire-39), functional endurance (6-min walk test), and balance (mini-BESTest). RESULTS Ninety participants were randomized (45 per group). There were no adverse effects or resource constraints. Although adherence to the dancing program was 93.5%, there was >40% attrition in each group. Postintervention, the dance group had greater nonsignificant gains in quality of life than the usual care group. There was a meaningful deterioration in endurance in the usual care group. There were no meaningful changes in other outcomes. The exit questionnaire showed participants enjoyed the classes and would like to continue participation. CONCLUSIONS For people with mild to moderately severe PD, set dancing is feasible and enjoyable and may improve quality of life.

Nutrition knowledge of Irish Dancers

It has long been known that the effect of nutrition intake on sports performance is significant. There is a lack of information on the effect of nutrition specifically on dance performance but as dance has been described as a high intensity intermittent exercise it is similar to that of a multi-sprint team sport. There is evidence that dancers do not consume an adequate intake of some nutrients. Before dietary behaviour can change in athletes and dancers, knowledge of desired behaviour is required. While there is some information available as to the nutrition knowledge of dancers, there is none as yet on Irish Dancers. This study looks at initial questionnaires from a longitudinal study on nutrition knowledge and intakes in Irish Dancers. 32 Irish dancers (30 female, 2 male, mean age 21·5 years, SD2·7) either in full time vocational training or professional dancers were recruited in Limerick. All participants were screened with EAT-26 and completed a validated sports nutrition knowledge questionnaire modified only for local foods/drinks. Ethical approval was granted through the procedures of the University of Roehampton and the University of Limerick. Mean score for the questionnaire was 30·3/65, SD7·9 (47 %, SD12 %), range 9–44 (14–68 %). This compared with 85 % scored by nutrition students, 45 % scored by business students and 59 % scored by fitness students in the validation of the original questionnaire. The ability of the Irish dancers to correctly identify foods as being high or low in carbohydrate, protein and fat varied widely. Mean (SD) score for correctly identifying foods high or low in carbohydrate was 4·1(1·4) out of 6, for foods high or low in protein 4·7 (1·6) out of 6, for foods high or low in fat 2·8 (1·4) out of 7. 11 participants (34 %) identified pasta as a high fat food, while 10 (31 %) participants identified butter as a high carbohydrate food. Although 11 (34 %) believed that salt tablets should be used to treat cramp in dancers, 30 (94 %) were able to correctly identify suitable drinks for after a training session. Nutrition knowledge amongst Irish dancers is variable, and knowledge of macronutrient content is not consistent. Without knowledge of macronutrient content of foods making choices based on recommendations to support dance training and performance will be difficult. These findings highlight the importance of providing accurate information to this group to allow them to make the best choices of food to support dance training and performance.

Dancing and Parkinson’s disease: updates on this creative approach to therapy

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