Sensory Attention Focused Exercise in Parkinson's Disease

• Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) III (motor score) [ Time Frame: Baseline, 12 weeks and 24 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  Assessment of patient's disease severity, completed by a blinded certified clinician.
  
  

• Timed up and go [ Time Frame: Baseline, 12 weeks and 24 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  Participants stand out of a chair, walk 3 meters, turn around and sit back down. This task is timed.
  
  
• 30 second chair stand [ Time Frame: Baseline, 12 weeks and 24 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  Participants instructed to stand from a seated position as many times as possible in 30 seconds. Number of completed stands is recorded.
  
  
• Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) - I and II (self report of mentation, depression, and activities of daily living). [ Time Frame: Baseline, 12 weeks and 24 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  Participants complete a self-report questionnaire, and rank how they are feeling.
  
  
• Grooved Pegboard [ Time Frame: Baseline, 12 weeks and 24 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  Participants must place and remove 25 pegs as fast as possible using a standard Grooved Pegboard. Participants are timed.
  
  
• Step Length [ Time Frame: Baseline, 12 weeks and 24 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  Measured using GAITRite software.
  
  
• Velocity [ Time Frame: Baseline, 12 weeks and 24 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  Assessed using GAITRite software.
  
  
• Step to Step Length Variability [ Time Frame: Baseline, 12 weeks and 24 weeks ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  Assessed using GAITRite software.
  
  

Currently, there is no cure for Parkinson's disease (PD) and although medication offers symptom reduction, there are many negative side effects associated with medication use. Thus, there has been an increased emphasis on exercise interventions for symptom reduction. Recent research has shown that both sensory attention focused exercise (SAFEx) and strength training interventions improved disease severity more so than other exercise interventions (such as aerobic, aquatic and no exercise). Upon closer examination, SAFEx showed further symptom improvements than the strength training program. Thus exists the need to further examine SAFEx using a standardized protocol - a single-blind randomized double-crossover trial - that has been used sparingly in exercise interventions. In addition, the 30-second chair stand has been implemented into the testing protocol, as it has been shown to be a reliable measurement of functional strength for older adults. This test was implemented in order to identify the functional strength gains, if any, that are associated with SAFEx. It is hypothesized that the SAFEx intervention will improve disease symptoms in PD, and that the results will not be due to strength gains.