Is Being Physically Active Enough or Do People with Parkinson’s Disease Need Structured Supervised Exercise? Lessons Learned from COVID-19

Josefa Domingos, Carlos Família, Júlio Belo Fernandes, John Dean and Catarina Godinho
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Josefa Domingos: Grupo de Patologia Médica, Nutrição e Exercício Clínico (PaMNEC) do Centro de Investigação Interdisciplinar Egas Moniz (CiiEM), Monte de Caparica, 2829-511 Caparica, Portugal
Carlos Família: Grupo de Patologia Médica, Nutrição e Exercício Clínico (PaMNEC) do Centro de Investigação Interdisciplinar Egas Moniz (CiiEM), Monte de Caparica, 2829-511 Caparica, Portugal
Júlio Belo Fernandes: Grupo de Patologia Médica, Nutrição e Exercício Clínico (PaMNEC) do Centro de Investigação Interdisciplinar Egas Moniz (CiiEM), Monte de Caparica, 2829-511 Caparica, Portugal
John Dean: Triad Health AI, Aurora, CO 80012, USA
Catarina Godinho: Grupo de Patologia Médica, Nutrição e Exercício Clínico (PaMNEC) do Centro de Investigação Interdisciplinar Egas Moniz (CiiEM), Monte de Caparica, 2829-511 Caparica, Portugal

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 4, 1-12

Abstract: Social isolation imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted people’s lifestyles and daily activities. In this work we compared pre- and post-pandemic clinical outcomes in people with Parkinson’s disease, to assess differences according to the type of behaviour and exercise habits adopted by participants. After two months of COVID-19 lockdown, we assessed: changes in exercise behaviour; motor and non-motor aspects of daily life experiences (MDS-UPDRS I & II); activities of daily living (The Schwab & England scale); quality of life (Parkinson Disease Questionnaire); sleep (Parkinson Disease Sleep Scale); falls; and Clinical Global Impression Change. Twenty-seven individuals aged between 57 and 92 years old participated; from these, ten individuals (37%) completely interrupted physical activities, while seventeen (63%) maintained some level of active lifestyle. Regardless of whether they remained active or not, all participants perceived a significant worsening of their clinical condition, reporting an increase in difficulties completing daily activities or chores (37%) and worsening of their health condition (51.8%). The quantifiable influence of exercise habits was borderline for the group who kept active. The active group seem to have a better self-perception of their health condition, although it was not enough to show a clear benefit. People with Parkinson’s disease should be informed that being physically active may not be enough and more structured exercise could be needed.

Keywords: social isolation; Parkinson’s disease; exercise; sedentary behaviour; active behaviour (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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