Department of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, "Villa Salus" Hospital, Mestre (VE), Italy.
Department of geriatrics, Ospedale S.S. Giovanni e Paolo, Venezia, Italy.
Aging Clin Exp Res. 2021 Apr;33(4):965-971. doi: 10.1007/s40520-020-01617-w. Epub 2020 Jun 11.
Non-pharmacological interventions are increasingly being acknowledged as valuable options to overcome or reduce functional problems in patients with Parkinson's disease. In the last decades, Nordic Walking was employed and investigated by rehabilitation specialists. Clinical trials on the effect of Nordic Walking on motor and non-motor Parkinson's disease symptoms are few, small, and heterogeneous for inclusion criteria and intervention protocols. As a result, Nordic Walking training cannot be recommended as a standard rehabilitative tool in Parkinson's disease patients.
This randomized controlled single-blind trial recruited Parkinson's disease patients at a Hoehn and Yahr stage between 2 and 3 assigned to a Nordic Walking vs. Walking group. Subjects were extensively assessed for motor and non-motor symptoms at baseline and after 8 weeks of intervention period. To study the effects of intervention on the overall sample, paired-sample t test and Wilcoxon signed rank test were used, while differences between groups were estimated with general linear models repeated-measure and Mann-Whitney U test.
Among 32 patients who ended the study period, improvements were observed in the following assessments: global motor outcome (p 0.001), dynamic and static balance ability (p 0.005; p 0.002), global non-motor symptoms outcome (p 0.003), fatigue (p 0.016), anxiety (p 0.043), and quality of life (p 0.003). The treatment group (Nordic Walking) failed to show any difference compared to the control group (Walking) in all considered outcomes.
Nordic Walking was not superior compared to Walking in the studied population. Moderate intensity outdoor group activities like Nordic Walking and Walking seem to improve motor and non-motor symptoms parameters in patients with Parkinson's disease.
非药物干预越来越被认为是克服或减轻帕金森病患者功能问题的有价值的选择。在过去的几十年中，北欧健走已被康复专家采用和研究。关于北欧健走对帕金森病运动和非运动症状影响的临床试验很少，规模小，纳入标准和干预方案存在差异，因此，北欧健走训练不能作为帕金森病患者的标准康复工具推荐。
这项随机对照单盲试验招募了处于 Hoehn 和 Yahr 2-3 期的帕金森病患者，将他们分配到北欧健走组和步行组。在基线和 8 周干预期结束时，对受试者的运动和非运动症状进行了广泛评估。为了研究干预对总体样本的影响，使用了配对样本 t 检验和 Wilcoxon 符号秩检验，而组间差异则使用重复测量的一般线性模型和 Mann-Whitney U 检验进行估计。
在结束研究期的 32 名患者中，以下评估有所改善：整体运动结局（p 0.001）、动态和静态平衡能力（p 0.005；p 0.002）、整体非运动症状结局（p 0.003）、疲劳（p 0.016）、焦虑（p 0.043）和生活质量（p 0.003）。与对照组（步行组）相比，治疗组（北欧健走组）在所有考虑的结局中均未显示出差异。
在研究人群中，北欧健走与步行相比没有优势。像北欧健走和步行这样中等强度的户外团体活动似乎可以改善帕金森病患者的运动和非运动症状参数。
