A pilot study to evaluate multi-dimensional effects of dance for people with Parkinson's disease

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease associated with deficits in motor, cognitive, and emotion/quality of life (QOL) domains, yet most pharmacologic and behavioral interventions focus only on motor function. Our goal was to perform a pilot study of Dance for Parkinson’s—a community-based program that is growing in popularity—in order to compare effect sizes across multiple outcomes and to inform selection of primary and secondary outcomes for a larger trial. Study participants were people with PD who self-enrolled in either Dance for Parkinson’s classes (intervention group, N=8) or PD support groups (control group, N=7). Assessments of motor function (Timed-Up-and-Go, Gait Speed, Standing Balance Test), cognitive function (Test of Everyday Attention, Verbal Fluency, Alternate Uses, Digit Span Forward and Backward), and emotion/QOL (Geriatric Depression Scale, Falls Efficacy Scale-International, Parkinson’s Disease Questionnaire-39 (total score and Activities of Daily Living subscale)) were performed in both groups at baseline and follow-up. Standardized effect sizes were calculated within each group and between groups for all 12 measures. Effect sizes were positive (suggesting improvement) for all 12 measures within the intervention group and 7 of 12 measures within the control group. The largest between-group differences were observed for the Test of Everyday Attention (a measure of cognitive switching), gait speed and falls efficacy. Our findings suggest that dance has potential to improve multiple outcomes in people with PD. Future trials should consider co-primary outcomes given potential benefits in motor, cognitive and emotion/QOL domains.

Promoting wellbeing and health through active participation in music and dance: a systematic review

“…Recent research on arts and health centres on how performing arts can best serve people living with debilitating and chronic illness such as dementia, Parkinson's disease, and mental illness (Adam, Ramli, & Shahar, 2016;Coaten & Newman-Bluestein, 2013;Guzman, Freeston, Rochester, Hughes, & James, 2016;Jones, 2016;Karkou & Meekums, 2017;Lannen, Worrall, Alston, Marley, & Allan, 2012;Lapum & Bar, 2016;Särkämö et al, 2016;Sorrell, 2018;Sung & Chang, 2005;Sung, Chang, & Lee, 2010;Verghese et al, 2006). For example, multiple studies have shown that dance therapy can significantly improve gait, movement, balance, and wellbeing in patients with Parkinson's disease (Butt, 2017;Hackney & Earhart, 2010;Hackney & McKee, 2014;Hashimoto, Takabatake, Miyaguchi, Nakanishi, & Naitou, 2015;Karkou & Meekums, 2017;Lewis, Annett, Davenport, Hall, & Lovatt, 2016;McNeely, Duncan, & Earhart, 2015;Rios Romenets, Anang, Fereshtehnejad, Pelletier, & Postuma, 2015;Rocha, Slade, McClelland, & Morris, 2017;Shanahan et al, 2017;Ventura et al, 2016). Music therapy is also a well-established approach to treating a range of issues, such as speech pathologies, poor mental health, and social and behavioural difficulties in children and adults (Edwards, 2011;MacDonald et al, 2012).…”

Análise da qualidade de vida em idosas praticantes de dança

“…A velhice traz à mulher maior possibilidade de ficar sozinha, sendo o elemento de referência familiar. 43 As mulheres têm maior probabilidade de enviuvar numa idade menos avançada, com muitos anos de vida ainda pela frente.…”

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

“…Four studies were non-randomized and therefore have an increased risk of bias. [32][33][34][35] The majority of RCTs and non-randomized studies have an increased risk of selection bias. 34,35,[37][38][39][40][41]43 Comparability between the groups at baseline was also lacking in four studies.…”

“…34,36 The dance interventions were well-described in 10 studies. 35,40,41 Seven studies stated that a warm-up was performed at the start of class [31][32][33][34]36,39,42 and nine studies used dance instructors with previous experience. 31,33,[36][37][38][39][40]42,43 Two studies included a home dance program as part of the dance intervention.…”

“…35,40,41 Seven studies stated that a warm-up was performed at the start of class [31][32][33][34]36,39,42 and nine studies used dance instructors with previous experience. 31,33,[36][37][38][39][40]42,43 Two studies included a home dance program as part of the dance intervention. 36,42 The volume of dance activity in each study and the results of intragroup (the difference between pre-and postassessment results within each study group) and intergroup comparisons (the difference between the study groups after the intervention) are summarized in Tables 3 and 4. Where possible, the results of intragroup comparisons were presented quantitatively.…”