Motivation Matters: Elucidating Factors Driving Exercise in People With Parkinson Disease

Despite the known benefits of exercise for people with Parkinson disease (PwP), activity levels are not sustained over time due to various motivators and barriers impacting exercise adherence. Previously, studies on exercise adherence in PwP explored such barriers without describing or providing specific questions related to the determinants of motivation. Exercise adherence in PwP can be improved by addressing 3 key perspectives on motivation: personal factors (age, sex, premorbid motivation level, time when PwP started exercising, exercise before diagnosis, self-compassion), disease-related factors (perceived disease severity, depression score), and environmental factors (distance to exercise therapy, weather conditions, encouragement received from partners).

Six hundred seventy-two PwP from the Netherlands participated in an online survey that comprised questionnaires on demographics, depression, self-compassion, perceived disease severity, and additional questions on sports, motivation, and barriers related to sports. A multiple regression analysis was applied with current motivation as an outcome measure, and age, sex, perceived disease severity, premorbid motivation, depression, self-compassion, age starting exercising, and exercise before diagnosis as determinants.

The results revealed that current motivation levels to exercise are associated with higher levels of premorbid motivation (b = 0.14), greater self-compassion (b = 0.32), lower age (b = -0.03), lower perceived disease severity (b = -0.10), and lesser degrees of depression (b = -0.10). Barriers stopping PwP from exercising were fatigue, weather conditions, and having less energy for other activities after exercising.

Understanding these motivational factors and barriers helps shape and promote better exercise adherence and thereby ascertain greater symptomatic benefits for PwP.

This study outcome gives health care professionals insight into determinants of motivation and exercise adherence, which will help enabling tailored approaches for improved engagement.