INTRODUCTION: Individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) show gait, posture, and balance deficits and, compared to asymptomatic individuals of similar ages, demonstrate more accentuated decreases in physical activity levels. These physical declines could be associated with losses of muscular strength, physical capacity, and functional performance. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effects of a combined program of muscular strengthening and aerobic conditioning on functional performance and physical capacity of individuals with PD. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventeen PD volunteers, who had a mean age of 60.35 ± 9.94 years on the stages 1 to 3 on the Hoehn and Yahr scale, participated in the program conducted three times/week during 12 weeks. The following outcome measures were obtained before and after the program: muscular strength with the hand-held dynamometer, functional performance with the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), gait speed, ability to manage stairs, and physical capacity with the human activity profile (HAP). Descriptive statistics, t-tests, and repeated measure ANOVAS were employed for analyses. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The bilateral dorsal flexors were the only group which demonstrated significant increases in torque production after the intervention (F = 7.93; p = 0.008). However, significant gains were observed for all measures of functional performance: Gait speed (p = 0.028), stair ascent (p = 0.001), stair descent (p = 0.002), total UPDRS score (p = 0.007), and HAP score (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: The combined program of muscular strengthening and aerobic conditioning resulted in improvements in measures of functional performance and physical activity levels in individuals with PD in the early and moderate stages of the disease.
Parkinson's disease; Muscular strengthening; Aerobic exercise; Functional performance
