Whether mindfulness-guided therapy can be a new direction for the rehabilitation of patients with Parkinson’s disease: a network meta-analysis of non-pharmacological alternative motor-/sensory-based interventions

Abstract

BackgroundThe treatment for Parkinson’s disease (PD) consumes a lot of manpower and financial resources. Non-pharmacological alternative motor-/sensory-based interventions are optimized for the rehabilitation of PD patients. Mindfulness-based therapy shows ideal efficacy, but the diversity of the therapy brings difficulties to the selection of clinicians and patients.MethodsNetwork meta-analysis in the Bayesian framework was used to evaluate the efficacy of non-pharmacological alternative motor-/sensory-based interventions in improving motor and non-motor symptoms in PD patients.ResultsA total of 58 studies (2,227 patients) were included. Compared with the non-intervention group, qigong was associated with improved outcomes in the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test (mean difference (MD) −5.54, 95% confidence interval (CI) −8.28 to −2.77), and UPDRS-I (MD −15.50, 95% CI −19.93 to −7.63). Differences between non-pharmacological alternative motor-/sensory-based interventions were not significant for PDQ-39, UPDRS-I, or UPDRS-II; however, qigong was superior to dance (MD −3.91, 95% CI −6.90 to −0.95), Tai Chi (MD −3.54, 95% CI −6.53 to −0.69), acupuncture (MD −6.75, 95% CI −10.86 to −2.70), music (MD -3.91, 95% CI −7.49 to −0.48), and exercise (MD −3.91, 95% CI −6.49 to −1.33) in the TUG test.ConclusionThis network meta-analysis supports mindfulness-based therapy (e.g., qigong, yoga, and Tai Chi) as a preferred non-pharmacological alternative motor-/sensory-based intervention for PD rehabilitation.Systematic review registrationhttps://inplasy.com/inplasy-2022-10-0109/, INPLASY2022100109.

Exploring Novel Meridian-Based Therapeutic Approaches in Parkinson’s Disease

“…Accordingly, in PD management, dopaminergic drugs such as levodopa and dopamine agonists are considered the most effective symptomatic treatments, but their use is somewhat limited due to side effects such as hallucinations, drowsiness, lower extremity swelling, and retroperitoneal, pleuropulmonary, and heart valve fibrosis [3]. Various nonpharmacological therapies have been studied for their effectiveness in alleviating PD symptoms, and a recent network meta-analysis found the superiority of mindbody exercises such as qigong, yoga, and tai chi among the nonpharmacological therapies [4].…”