Pilates Exercise and Functional Balance in Parkinson s Disease

Background: Parkinson s disease as a progressive disorder of the nervoussystem leads to the disability of postural control system.Objectives: In the present study the effects of Pilates exercises on functionalbalance in patients with Parkinson s was investigated.Materials and Methods: This control trial included 30 patients with idiopathicParkinson s disease who were selected as subjects randomly and assigned intoeither exercise groups or control group. Participants in exercise and controlgroups attended an 8-week Pilates program or walking program respectively.Functional balance, core stability and lower limb strength were evaluated byFullerton Balance Scale (FAB), valid functional core stability and strength testsrespectively, before and after interventions. In order to analyze the data pairedsamples t-test and independent samples t-test and SPSS version 22 were used.Results: Attending an eight-week Pilates exercise was associated with asignificant improvement in functional balance, core stability indicators andlower limb strength (p=0.000), while the difference of the variables in controlgroup was not significant. Also the difference between the results of functionalbalance, core stability and lower limb strength of two groups in post-test wassignificant (p=0.000).Conclusion: Given that Pilates exercises involve both musculoskeletal systemand nervous system, can be an effective intervention to improving balance inpatients with Parkinson s disease.

Pilates Exercise and Functional Balance in Parkinson s Disease Keywords:

Parkinson Disease , Exercise , Movement