Walking economy and aerobic power in Parkinson’s disease after endurance exercise training: A pilot study

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To verify the effect of an endurance exercise program in middle stages of Parkinson’s disease. METHODS: The patients were two women and seven men with Parkinson’s disease, aged 56 to 74 years, classified at Hoehn and Yahr stages 2 to 2.5. The study was designed as an open long-term pilot trial over three months of supervised treadmill exercise training. Cardiopulmonary exercise test evaluations were performed before the start of the study (test 1) and after three months (test 2). The main outcome measure was walking economy (i.e., the rate of oxygen consumption during gait) measured between VT1 and VT2 speeds and Oxygen consumption (VO2). RESULTS: No changes (p=0.551) were observed for maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max, 24.6 vs 23.6 mL.kg -1.min-1) between tests. The walking economy was 20% better (p<0.001) after three months of aerobic endurance training (266.7 vs 212.6 mL.kg-1.km-1, prevs. post-training); the Cohen’s “d” effect size (ES) was 0.99, a very large effect. CONCLUSION: Evidence from this pilot study in individuals with Parkinson’s disease suggests that gains in walking economy occurs with a treadmill-training program without gain in aerobic power, but which may positively reduce the energy expenditure of activities of daily living in these patients.