Functionality and Quality of Life with Parkinson’s Disease after Use of a Dynamic Upper Limb Orthosis: A Pilot Study

María Jiménez-Barrios, Jerónimo González-Bernal (), Esther Cubo, José María Gabriel-Galán, Beatriz García-López, Anna Berardi, Marco Tofani, Giovanni Galeoto, Martin J. A. Matthews, Mirian Santamaría-Peláez and Josefa González-Santos
Additional contact information
María Jiménez-Barrios: Department of Health Sciences, University of Burgos, 09001 Burgos, Spain
Jerónimo González-Bernal: Department of Health Sciences, University of Burgos, 09001 Burgos, Spain
Esther Cubo: Neurology Service, Burgos University Hospital, 09006 Burgos, Spain
José María Gabriel-Galán: Neurology Service, Burgos University Hospital, 09006 Burgos, Spain
Beatriz García-López: Neurophysiology Service, Burgos University Hospital, 09006 Burgos, Spain
Anna Berardi: Department of Human Neurosciences, University of la Sapienza, 00188 Rome, Italy
Marco Tofani: Department of Human Neurosciences, University of la Sapienza, 00188 Rome, Italy
Giovanni Galeoto: Department of Human Neurosciences, University of la Sapienza, 00188 Rome, Italy
Martin J. A. Matthews: Faculty of Health, School of Health Professions Peninsula Allied Health Centre, University of Plymouth, Derriford Rd., Plymouth PL6 8BH, UK
Mirian Santamaría-Peláez: Department of Health Sciences, University of Burgos, 09001 Burgos, Spain
Josefa González-Santos: Department of Health Sciences, University of Burgos, 09001 Burgos, Spain

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 6, 1-12

Abstract: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a chronic, neurodegenerative movement disorder, whose symptoms have a negative impact on quality of life and functionality. Although its main treatment is pharmacological, non-pharmacological aids such as the dynamic elastomeric fabric orthosis (DEFO) merit an evaluation. Our objective is to assess the DEFO in upper limb (UL) functional mobility and in the quality of life of PD patients. A total of 40 patients with PD participated in a randomized controlled crossover study, and were assigned to a control group (CG) and to an experimental group (EG). Both groups used the DEFO for two months, the experimental group the first two months of the study and the control group the last two. Motor variables were measured in the ON and OFF states at the baseline assessment and at two months. Differences from the baseline assessment were observed in some motor items of the Kinesia assessment, such as rest tremor, amplitude, rhythm or alternating movements in the ON and OFF states with and without orthosis. No differences were found in the unified Parkinson’s disease rating scale (UPDRS) or the PD quality-of-life questionnaire. The DEFO improves some motor aspects of the UL in PD patients but this does not translate to the amelioration of the standard of functional and quality-of-life scales.

Keywords: Parkinson’s disease; dynamic elastomeric fabric orthosis; functionality; quality of life; non-pharmacological treatment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/6/4995/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/6/4995/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:6:p:4995-:d:1094957

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().