Effect of Motor Imagery Training on Gait and Balance in Parkinson's Disease

The aim of this study was to determine whether adding motor imagery training (MIT) to conventional exercise training (CET) improves gait and balance in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), compared with CET alone.

This prospective interventional study was conducted in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR) in a tertiary care hospital from January 2021 to May 2022. Fifty patients with Stage 2-4 Hoehn and Yahr PD were included and divided equally into two groups. Group A received only CET, whereas group B received CET and MIT for 12 weeks. Assessment was done at baseline and at four, eight, and 12 weeks using the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), the Timed Up and Go test (TUG), and the Six-minute walk test (6MWT). Data were collected and analysed using various statistical tests by IBM SPSS Statistics software, version 21.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

The two groups were comparable at baseline in terms of their demographic profile. Both groups had significant improvement (p<0.05) in all the assessment parameters at all follow-ups. A comparison between the groups revealed a better outcome in group B in terms of BBS and TUG, but the difference was not statistically significant, with p-values of 0.414 and 0.793, respectively, at 12 weeks. Both groups were comparable in terms of 6MWT at 12 weeks of follow-up.

Incorporating MIT into CET enhances outcomes related to gait and balance in patients with PD compared to CET alone.