Objective: To evaluate the effects of aquatic exercise therapy on gait variability and disability compared to usual care for people with Parkinson’s disease (PD).
Design: Single-blind randomized control trial (RCT).
Setting: A community based hydrotherapy pool in Ireland.
Participants: Twenty one individuals with PD (Hoehn-Yahr Stages I-III).
Interventions: Participants were randomly assigned to either an aquatic exercise therapy group (45 minutes, twice a week for 6 weeks) or a control group that received usual care. Usual care involved continuing with their medication alone.
Main Outcome Measure(s): The primary outcome measure was gait variability as measured using a Coda CX1 motion capture system. Secondary outcomes were quality of life measured on the Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire-39, freezing of gait and motor disability quantified by the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS III). Feasibility was evaluated by measuring safety, adverse events and participant satisfaction.
Results: People in the aquatic therapy group and control group showed similar small improvements in gait variability. The aquatic therapy group showed greater improvements in disability than the control group (P<0.01). No differences between groups or over time were identified for freezing of gait or quality of life. Aquatic therapy sessions were safe and enjoyable with no adverse events.
Conclusions: Aquatic therapy is feasible and safe for people with mild-moderately severe PD and can have beneficial effects on motor disability. Aquatic therapy appears to be a valid method to increase exercise and physical activity levels in people with this progressive disease.
Ethics: Ethics approval was received from the Irish Health Service Executive, Hospital Scientific Research Ethics Committee (ethics no. 014/15).
