Music-Based Sling Mobility Training for Parkinson’s Disease: One-Year Follow-up of Case Series

Abstract Sling mobility training consists of passive and active exercises in slings suspended from the ceiling. We report the effects of music-based sling mobility training for patients with Parkinson’s disease over a one-year follow-up period. Four participants with Parkinson’s disease, aged 64 to 80 years participated in this study. All participants underwent music-based sling mobility training five times per week for one year. The outcome measures included the Part III of the unified Parkinson’s disease rating scale (UPDRS-III), Berg balance scale, 10-meter walk test, 6-minute walk test (6MWT), modified Barthel index (MBI), and Parkinson’s disease questionnaire-39 (PDQ-39). After six months of training, all four participants showed noticeably improved scores for all tests. Furthermore, gains were maintained after one year of training. These findings suggest that music-based sling mobility training might be helpful in enhancing physical performance, activities of daily living, and quality of life in individuals with Parkinson’s disease.