Article

Our aim was to evaluate the feasibility of a hydrotherapy treatment in
patients with Parkinson's disease and the effectiveness of this treatment on
balance parameters in comparison to a traditional land-based physical therapy.
DESIGN: A randomized single-blind controlled trial.
SETTING: Outpatients.
SUBJECTS: Thirty-four patients with Parkinson's disease in Hoehn-Yahr stage
2.5-3. INTERVENTION: Group 1 hydrotherapy treatment, group 2 land-based
rehabilitation treatment. The two groups underwent the same rehabilitation period
(60 minutes of treatment, five days a week for two months). MAIN MEASURES: The
primary outcome measures were the centre of the pressure sway area recorded with
open and closed eyes, using a stabilometric platform. Secondary outcome measures
were Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale II and III, Timed Up and Go Test,
Berg Balance Scale, Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale, Falls Efficacy
Scale, Falls diary and Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire-39. RESULTS:
Hydrotherapy treatment proved to be feasible and safe. Patients in both groups
had a significant improvement in all outcome variables. There was a better
improvement in patients who underwent hydrotherapy than in patients treated with
land-based therapy in the centre of pressure sway area closed eyes (mean SD
change: 45.4 SD64.9 vs. 6.9 SD45.3, p = 0.05), Berg Balance Scale (51.2 SD3.1 vs.
6.0 SD3.1, p = 0.005), Activities-specific Balance Confidence Scale (16.8 SD10.6
vs. 4.1 SD5.4, p = 0.0001), Falls Efficacy Scale (-5.9 SD4.8 vs. -1.9 SD1.4, p =
0.003), Parkinson's Disease Quetionnaire-39 (-18.4 SD12.9 vs. -8.0 SD7.0, p =
0.006) and falls diary (-2.4 SD2.2 vs. -0.4 SD0.5, p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our
study suggests that hydrotherapy may constitute a possible treatment for balance
dysfunction in Parkinsonian patients with moderate stage of disease.
CI - (c) The Author(s) 2014.

Langue : ANGLAIS