Schootemeijer Sabine, de Vries Nienke M, Darweesh Sirwan K L, Ascherio Alberto, Schwarzschild Michael A, Macklin Eric A, Bloem Bastiaan R
Center of Expertise for Parkinson & Movement Disorders, Department of Neurology, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Gelderland, the Netherlands (S.S., N.M.V., S.K.L.D., B.R.B.); Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts (A.A., M.A.S., E.A.M.); Departments of Epidemiology and Nutrition, T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts (A.A.); Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (M.A.S., E.A.M.); Mass General Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (M.A.S.); and Biostatistics Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts (E.A.M.).
J Neurol Phys Ther. 2025 Apr 1;49(2):74-81. doi: 10.1097/NPT.0000000000000507. Epub 2025 Mar 21.
Physical activity has beneficial symptomatic effects for people with Parkinson's disease (PD), but increasing-and sustaining-a physically active lifestyle remains challenging. We investigated the feasibility (ability to increase step counts) and usability of a behavioral intervention using a motivational smartphone application to remotely increase physical activity in PD.
We performed a 4-week, double-blind pilot trial. Thirty people with PD who were able to walk independently and did not take more than 7000 steps at baseline were randomized to minimal, moderate, or large increases in step counts. Step counts were continuously collected with the participants' own smartphones. Usability was assessed with a translated version of the System Usability Scale. We reported the distribution of clinical characteristics in our participants.
Step counts per day increased over 4 weeks in a dose-dependent pattern (mean ± standard deviation: minimal = 1064 ± 1030, moderate = 1689 ± 2060, large = 2745 ± 3817). The usability of the STEPWISE app (System Usability Scale) was perceived as excellent (mean ± standard deviation: 86.6 ± 12.7).
Our findings support the notion that a titrated increase in daily step count is feasible over 4 weeks. This motivates and supports further development of a smartphone application to increase physical activity in people with manifest PD. If effective, this behavioral intervention could provide an accessible option for people with PD worldwide.
Video Abstract available for more insights from the authors (see the Video, Supplemental Digital Content available at: http://links.lww.com/JNPT/A516 ).
体育活动对帕金森病（PD）患者有有益的症状改善作用，但增加并维持积极的生活方式仍然具有挑战性。我们研究了使用一款激励性智能手机应用程序远程增加PD患者身体活动的行为干预措施的可行性（增加步数的能力）和可用性。
我们进行了一项为期4周的双盲试点试验。30名能够独立行走且基线步数不超过7000步的PD患者被随机分为步数小幅、中度或大幅增加组。使用参与者自己的智能手机持续收集步数。通过系统可用性量表的翻译版本评估可用性。我们报告了参与者的临床特征分布情况。
在4周内，每日步数呈剂量依赖性增加（均值±标准差：小幅增加=1064±1030，中度增加=1689±2060，大幅增加=2745±3817）。STEPWISE应用程序（系统可用性量表）的可用性被认为极佳（均值±标准差：86.6±12.7）。
我们的研究结果支持这样一种观点，即在4周内逐步增加每日步数是可行的。这激发并支持进一步开发一款智能手机应用程序，以增加明显PD患者的身体活动。如果有效，这种行为干预可为全球PD患者提供一种易于获得的选择。
可获取视频摘要以获取作者的更多见解（见视频，补充数字内容可在：http://links.lww.com/JNPT/A516 查看）。
