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The effects of exergames on upper extremity performance, trunk mobility, gait, balance, and cognition in Parkinson’s disease: a randomized controlled study

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Abstract

Background

In recent years, game-based exercises have been included more in the rehabilitation programs of Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients and positive effects have been observed.

Aim

This study aims to investigate the effects of innovative games particularly designed for neurological patients on upper extremity performance, trunk mobility and cognition in patients with PD.

Method

Twenty-three patients were enrolled in this randomized controlled study and randomly allocated into two groups: Exergames Program (EP) and Conventional Exercise Program (CP). Both groups received supervised physiotherapy sessions for 3 days a week and 8 weeks in total (24 sessions). Each session lasted 1 h. Evaluations were applied before and after the treatment: 9-Hole Peg Test (9-HPT), Minnesota Manual Dexterity Test (MMDT), Trunk Impairment Scale (TIS), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS), Timed Up and Go (TUG), Functional Reach Test (FRT), and Parkinson Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39).

Results

Twenty patients were included in the analysis because of the dropouts. Our findings showed that both groups improved significantly in 9-HPT dominant side, MMDT, TIS, MDS-UPDRS, TUG, FRT, and PDQ-39 (p < 0.05). MoCA scores of EP group improved significantly (p < 0.05) while CP group’s did not (p > 0.05). It was found that EP group had better improvements in 9-HPT dominant side, MMDT turning test, and MoCA than CP group when the differences in the changes within the groups were compared (p < 0.05).

Conclusion

Game-based training can be a useful rehabilitation tool to improve upper extremities performance, trunk mobility, cognition, functional mobility, balance, and quality of life and may have superiority over conventional exercises in improving cognition and upper extremity functions.

Clinical trial number

NCT05235880. Release Date: April 1, 2022.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the participants who contributed to this study and Hacettepe University, which provided the clinical environment.

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grants from funding agencies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

    Barış Çetin & Muhammed Kılınç

  2. Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

    Gül Yalçın Çakmaklı

Authors
  1. Barış Çetin
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  2. Muhammed Kılınç
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  3. Gül Yalçın Çakmaklı
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Contributions

BÇ: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, formal analysis, writing—original draft. MK: conceptualization, methodology, formal analysis, supervision, writing—review and editing. GYÇ: conceptualization, methodology, writing—review and editing. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Barış Çetin.

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Çetin, B., Kılınç, M. & Çakmaklı, G.Y. The effects of exergames on upper extremity performance, trunk mobility, gait, balance, and cognition in Parkinson’s disease: a randomized controlled study. Acta Neurol Belg (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-023-02451-3

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