Article

An impaired ability to initiate walking is a common feature of postural
instability and gait impairment in Parkinson's disease. While progressive
resistance training (PRT) has been proposed to be an effective modality to
improve balance and gait function in people with Parkinson's disease, there are a
limited number of randomized trials and no studies have evaluated gait initiation
performance. Thus, the purpose of this study was to examine the potential
benefits PRT on GI performance in people with Parkinson's disease. Eighteen
individuals with idiopathic PD were randomly assigned to either a twice weekly
PRT program or a non-contact control group for 10 weeks. Biomechanical analysis
of GI was performed pre- and post-intervention. Dependent variables of interest
included the displacement of the center-of-pressure (COP) during the anticipatory
postural phase of GI as well as the initial stride length and velocity. The PRT
group demonstrated improvements in the posterior displacement of the COP and the
initial stride length and velocity. There were no improvements in any variables
for the control subjects. These results suggest that PRT may be an effective
non-pharmacological and nonsurgical treatment to improve GI performance in PWP.
CI - Copyright (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS