The ‘PD Warrior’ exercise programme improves motor outcomes and quality of life in patients with early Parkinson disease: results of a pilot study

Abstract

Background‘PD Warrior’ (PDW) is a popular exercise program for Parkinson's disease; however, there are no published studies on the outcomes of the program.AimsTo investigate short‐term functional and quality of life (QoL) outcomes after the PDW 10‐week program in a pilot study of individuals with early Parkinson's Disease (PD).MethodsTwenty individuals with PD (Hoehn & Yahr 1–3) attending a hospital outpatient clinic were recruited into the PDW 10‐week program, comprising a weekly 1‐h supervised class complemented by an individualised daily home exercise program. Participants had the following assessments at baseline and after completion of the program: Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS‐UPDRS) Part III, timed up‐and‐go (TUG), 10‐m walk test (10mWT), 6‐min walking test (6MWT), balance tests, fine motor skills, 7‐day Parkinson's KinetiGraph (PKG) and PDQ‐39 QoL scale.ResultsSeventeen individuals completed the program. Significant improvements were observed in MDS‐UPDRS motor score (P = 0.019, d = 0.68, MCID 7); 6MWT distance (P < 0.001, d = 1.16); walking time during motor or cognitive dual tasking (P = 0.006, d = 0.77; P = 0.005, d = 0.79, respectively); and the PDQ‐39 emotional well‐being subdomain (P = 0.009; MCID 4.2); as well as improvements trending to significance in bradykinesia (P = 0.025, d = 0.73), 10mWT walking time (P = 0.023, d = 0.61) and borderline improvement in balance (P = 0.056, d = 0.50).ConclusionsThe outcomes of this study support the efficacy of the PDW program in individuals with early PD and provide justification for future trials and investigation of its effects.