ICBAS-Abel Salazar Institute for Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto, Portugal; CBSin - Center of Integrative Health Biosciences, Porto, Portugal.
IINFACTS - Institute of Research and Advance Formation in Health Sciences and Technology, Paredes, Portugal; CBSin - Center of Integrative Health Biosciences, Porto, Portugal.
Complement Ther Clin Pract. 2021 Nov;45:101479. doi: 10.1016/j.ctcp.2021.101479. Epub 2021 Sep 8.
Balance and gait disorders are relevant symptoms in the quality of life of Parkinson's patients. Currently, there is no therapy to reverse or treat this condition. Acupuncture treatment is believed to improve motor ability through the cortico-basal-thalamus-cortical-ganglia.
To investigate qualitatively the acute effect of acupuncture on balance and gait in Parkinson's disease in 7 patients.
This is a randomized and controlled crossover study. The same individual patient was part of both, experimental (real acupuncture) and control group (false acupuncture/sham), and the sequence was randomized. Balance and gait parameters were measured at two different moments, before and after treatment, using four force platforms as well as the collection of 3D markers positions taken by 11 cameras. Images were analyzed using Qualisys Track Manager software that let us extract data related to the quality of gait and balance.
Statistically significant differences were found in gait speed (p = 0.016), gait cadence (p = 0.006), support base width (p = 0.0001), medio-lateral oscillation (p = 0.017), left-right step length (p = 0.0002), and stride length: right-right (p = 0.0000) and left-left (p = 0.0018), time of left support phase (p = 0.029), right support phase (p = 0.025) and double support phase (p = 0.015), between the initial and final moments for the experimental group. Differences in right-left stride length were found for both groups.
Our results suggest that the acupuncture protocol used objectively could improve gait in Parkinson disease patients. A deep research involving a statistical evaluation supported on a larger number of voluntaries should be accomplished to confirming these promising preliminary results.
平衡和步态障碍是帕金森病患者生活质量的相关症状。目前，尚无治疗方法可以逆转或治疗这种情况。针灸治疗被认为可以通过皮质-基底-丘脑-皮质-神经节来改善运动能力。
在 7 名帕金森病患者中定性研究针灸对平衡和步态的急性影响。
这是一项随机对照交叉研究。同一个个体患者同时参与实验组（真实针灸）和对照组（虚假针灸/假针灸），且顺序是随机的。在治疗前后的两个不同时刻，使用四个力平台以及 11 个摄像头采集的 3D 标记位置来测量平衡和步态参数。使用 Qualisys Track Manager 软件对图像进行分析，该软件可以提取与步态和平衡质量相关的数据。
在步态速度（p=0.016）、步频（p=0.006）、支撑基础宽度（p=0.0001）、左右摆动（p=0.017）、左右步长（p=0.0002）和步长方面：右-右（p=0.0000）和左-左（p=0.0018）、左支撑相时间（p=0.029）、右支撑相时间（p=0.025）和双支撑相时间（p=0.015），实验组在初始和最终时刻之间均发现了统计学上的显著差异。两组均发现左右步长的差异。
我们的结果表明，使用的针灸方案可以客观地改善帕金森病患者的步态。应该进行一项涉及更多志愿者的统计评估的深入研究，以确认这些有前途的初步结果。
