Benefits of Exercise and Education for Individuals With Parkinson's Disease (BEEP)

University of Saskatchewan

Status and phase

Completed

Phase 1

Conditions

Parkinson Disease

Treatments

Procedure: Exercise, Education

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT00167453

Bio-REB 05-71

Details and patient eligibility

About

The research outlined in the BEEP proposal aims to test whether a 12 week exercise program alone or combined with a 12 session education program will benefit the physical, emotional and social well being of individuals in early to mid stages of Parkinson's Disease compared to a Control group and whether these benefits are maintained once the programs are complete and over the following 9 months.

Full description

The BEEP proposal tests whether a 12 week exercise program alone or combined with a 12 session education program will benefit the physical, emotional and social well being of individuals in early to mid stages of Parkinson's Disease and whether these benefits are maintained once the programs are complete.

This is a single blind randomized control trial with pretest and posttests after a 3 month intervention and subsequent follow-up testing at 3 months and 9 months post intervention. The Intervention groups (group exercise, group exercise and education) will be compared to a control group and to each other. Each group will have 15 participants.

The study compares the interventions and control groups to determine the following health outcomes:

physical performance
levels of physical and social activity
perceived quality of life
perceived self efficacy for managing chronic neurological disease

Analysis of variance will be used to test for group differences.

The Interventions: Exercise Group: Two, 75 minute sessions per week for 24 sessions. Program components include flexibility and strengthening exercises, balance and posture training, practice of functional tasks and endurance training. Education and Exercise Group: Exercise, same as for Exercise Group, delivered simultaneously to both intervention groups.

Education: One, 75 minute session per week for 12 sessions at RUH, including:

disease process and clinical presentation
medication use in PD
benefits of exercise
managing movement difficulties and tips for performance of functional activities
assistive devices for improved independence and safety
driving
prevention of falls: movement strategies and home modifications to increase safety
speech, swallowing and facial expression
nutrition and weight maintenance, managing constipation
managing changes in mood & emotions, managing personal relationships
coping with life changes caused by PD
relaxation methods

Monitoring will occur to limit "informal" education that might occur during the exercise program from this group to the pure Exercise Group.

Control Group: no intervention The proposed study will add to the body of evidence evaluating the immediate and longer term benefits of group exercise programs for individuals with PD and will evaluate the benefits gained by adding an education program to an exercise program intervention.

Enrollment

45 estimated patients

Sex

All

Ages

40 to 80 years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Clinical diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease or Parkinson Syndrome
Stages I-III of disease progression
Between 40 and 80 years of age

Exclusion criteria

Acute illness
History of significant cardio-pulmonary insufficiency/illness or any other condition which limits physical activity.
History of neurological disorder other than Parkinson Disease
Diagnosis of dementia or significant cognitive impairments.
Mental State Exam (Folstein et al, 1975) score of < 20
Beck Depression Inventory-II score of > 20 will be excluded.
Participation in an organized community exercise program in the past 6 months