Motor imagery combined with action observation integrated with physiotherapy in patients with Parkinson disease:...

Patients diagnosed with Parkinson Disease (PD) may experience sensory-perceptual-motor deficits. Therefore, approaches that induce changes in neuroplasticity and function, such as motor imagery (MI) and action observation (AO), may prove advantageous.

To describe the effects of MI and AO combined with physiotherapy on functional capacity in four patients with PD.

A case series with a repeated-measures design was conducted, with a sample size of four. The patients (P1 to P4) were aged between 67 and 85 years and exhibited mild to moderate PD. The functional capacity was evaluated using the Five Times Sit-To-Stand (5TSTS), Two Minute Step Test (TMST), Single-Leg-Stance, Timed Up and Go (TUG) and Timed Up and Go - Dual Task, at three moments: pre-intervention (m1), following a four-week period of physiotherapy (m2) and after a period of combining of physiotherapy sessions with MI and AO (m3).

Following m3, all patients improved in TUG, TUG-Manual (TUG-M), and TUG-Cognitive (TUG-C). P1, P3 and P4 enhanced in 5TSTS, while P1 and P3 increased in TMST. Conversely, P2 and P3 refined after m2, in 5TSTS, TUG-M and TUG-C.

The present study demonstrated that combining a MI with AO program to physiotherapy had different repercussions on functional capacity in individuals with PD.