Daily Exercise Patterns and Their Differences between Parkinson's Disease Patients with and without Postural...

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Exercise Science
• Physical Therapy

Background:

• Exercise is crucial for managing Parkinson's disease (PD).
• Personalized exercise plans are essential for different PD stages.
• Understanding exercise patterns in PD with and without postural instability (PI) is key.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate detailed exercise behaviors in mild to advanced PD patients.
• To compare exercise patterns between PD with and without postural instability (PI).

Main Methods:

• 263 PD patients were enrolled between September and December 2019.
• Clinical data, exercise behaviors, and PASE scores were collected.
• Comparison between mild PD without PI (HY 1-2) and advanced PD with PI (HY 3-4).

Main Results:

• Mean exercise frequency: 4.7 times/week; average duration: 7.8 hours/week.
• Aerobic exercise (71.9%), especially active walking (49.0%), was most common.
• Mild PD patients showed higher exercise duration, intensity, and PASE scores than advanced PD patients.

Conclusions:

• Parkinson's disease patients predominantly perform aerobic exercises like walking.
• Exercise amount and intensity decrease as PD progresses, while frequency remains stable.
• Tailored exercise recommendations: increased intensity for mild PD, increased duration for advanced PD.