Effects of a low-resistance, interval bicycling intervention in Parkinson's Disease.
Mehmet Uygur, Maria Bellumori, Christopher A Knight
PMID 28812404WHAT IT FOUND
Fourteen people with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease improved walking, balance, disease severity and simple reaction time after six weeks of fast, low-resistance recumbent cycling.
No control group, so true effect uncertain.
Key findings
01After six weeks, participants improved on measures of disease severity, walking mobility, and balance.
02Simple reaction time improved after training, while choice reaction time showed a non-significant trend.
03All participants completed the 12 supervised training sessions with no adverse effects reported.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
There was no control group or time-matched comparison, so improvements could be due to practice, placebo, or the natural course of Parkinson's disease. The study included only 14 people with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease who could walk without assistance, so it does not show what would happen in more advanced or more dependent patients. There was no follow-up assessment, so the duration of any improvement is unknown. For most outcome measures, the significant changes were smaller than the minimum detectable change estimates, which makes it harder to know whether the changes are clinically meaningful. Participants knew they were receiving training, and some tests were related to the cycling task, so practice effects cannot be ruled out.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these improvements as proof that the cycling caused them. The study had no control group, participants knew they were training, and the authors note changes could reflect exposure to tests or placebo.