A small-scale study on dancing for people living with Parkinson’s disease

Abstract

Background People with Parkinson’s disease (PD) need life-long rehabilitative interventions to slow disease progression and reduce impact of the disease on daily life activities. To be sustainable for the individual, activities should have a positive impact on physical, cognitive and mental health, and should be appealing and meaningful. Aim To quantitatively evaluate the health-related effects of a 10-week dance program for patients with PD. Methods A cross-over design with two groups. Group 1 undertook 10 weeks of dance classes; after that, group 2 began their 10 weeks of dance classes. Assessments of both groups at four timepoints (baseline, 10, 20 and 30 weeks) included physical tests and self-reported questionnaires to assess cognition, self-efficacy, well-being, fatigue, and health-related quality of life. The analysis involved comparisons of results after the dance and non-dance periods, for all instruments. Results The analyses could not show any significant differences between the assessments after the dance period compared to after the no dance period.