Continuation of full time employment as an inhibiting factor in Parkinson's disease symptoms

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease. Due to a constantly growing incidence rate and lowering age of PD patients it is becoming a more serious social problem.

The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of physiotherapy procedure of patients with PD depending on their working status.

The research was carried out on 89 people with diagnosed PD of IInd stage according to the Hoehn and Yahr classification. They were divided into two groups: working professionally and non-working. The Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) was used to estimate patients' clinical status while the PDQ-39 (Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire) scale evaluated quality of life. Patients took part in rehabilitation activities twice a week for a period of 20 weeks. In both groups an improvement in physical activity and a quality of life were achieved.

Better effects were observed in the group of working patients. Statistically significant differences were notice in part II UPDRS (p = 0.001), part I, II and III total of UPDRS (p = 0,001) and in the PDQ-39 test (p = 0.003).

Employment and participation in properly planned physiotherapy help reduce the symptoms and improve the quality of life in people with Parkinson's disease.