Somatosensory Focused Balance Training without cues can improve balance and gait in early Parkinson’s disease – a randomised pilot study

Purpose: To study the effect of Somatosensory Focused Balance Training without Cues, on gait and balance in people with early Parkinson’s disease.
Materials and methods: This was a randomised pilot study. Twenty-eight community-dwelling people with early Parkinson’s disease were randomised to immediate or delayed start of a 8w-group training in a community fitness location. Outcomes were measured at preintervention and postintervention. In addition, the early start group performed a 6-month follow up. Clinical outcome measures included: Berg Balance Scale (BBS), BDL Balance Scale, Timed Up and Go, 10 m walk test and the motor part of Unified Parkinson’s disease Rating Scale. Nonparametric statistics was used for analysis.
Results: Twenty-two participants (10 men, 12 female) were analysed (median age 69, Hoehn & Yahr 2.0). The participants improved significantly in performance of BBS (p = .007), BDL Balance Scale (p = .005), 10 m walk (p = .012) and mUPDRS (p = .027). At follow up, the improvement had declined. The small sample size restricts generalisability of the results.
Conclusions: The intervention showed positive effects on balance, gait and mUPDRS, suggesting that this specific approach should be further explored as a rehabilitation method to delay balance decline in people in the early stages of Parkinson’s disease.

研究目的：探究无提示躯体感觉聚焦平衡训练（Somatosensory Focused Balance Training）对早期帕金森病患者步态与平衡功能的影响。
材料与方法：本研究为随机预试验（randomised pilot study）。共纳入28名社区居住的早期帕金森病患者，将其随机分配至即刻启动组与延迟启动组，在社区健身场所开展为期8周的团体训练。分别于干预前、干预后评估结局指标；此外，即刻启动组完成了6个月的随访。临床结局评估指标包括：伯格平衡量表（Berg Balance Scale, BBS）、BDL平衡量表、计时起立行走测试（Timed Up and Go）、10米步行测试以及统一帕金森病评定量表运动分量表（Unified Parkinson’s disease Rating Scale Motor Subscale, mUPDRS）。数据分析采用非参数统计方法。
结果：最终纳入分析的参与者共22名（男10名，女12名），年龄中位数为69岁，霍恩-亚尔分级（Hoehn & Yahr）为2.0级。参与者在伯格平衡量表（BBS）、BDL平衡量表、10米步行测试以及统一帕金森病评定量表运动分量表（mUPDRS）的表现均获得显著改善（p=0.007、0.005、0.012、0.027）。随访时，上述改善程度有所回落。本研究样本量较小，限制了研究结果的外推性。
结论：该干预方案对平衡功能、步态以及统一帕金森病评定量表运动分量表（mUPDRS）均展现出积极改善效果，提示该特定训练方案可作为一种康复手段进一步探索，以延缓早期帕金森病患者的平衡功能衰退。