Effects of treadmill-walking training with additional body load on quality of life in subjects with Parkinson's disease.

BACKGROUND Parkinson's disease (PD) causes motor and non-motor impairments that affect the subject's quality of life. OBJECTIVE To assess the effects of treadmill-walking training with additional body load on the quality of life and motor function of subjects with PD. METHODS Nine subjects with PD, Hoehn and Yahr stages 2-3, not demented and with capability to ambulate independently took part in this study. The training program was divided into three phases (A₁-B-A₂): treadmill training with additional body load (A₁), control condition (conventional physical therapy group; B) and a second period of treadmill training with load (A₂). Each phase lasted six weeks. Quality of life and motor function were assessed by the PDQ-39 and the motor score of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), respectively. The evaluations and the training were performed during the on-phase of the medication cycle. RESULTS There was improvement in the total PDQ-39 score across the training period. The subscores mobility, activities of daily living and cognition subscores significantly improved after the training period. The improvement in the total score was associated with motor and non-motor factors in all of the training phases. The UPDRS motor score also improved, however it did not present any association with the improvement in quality of life. CONCLUSIONS The results showed that the treadmill-walking training with additional body load allowed an improvement in motor and non-motor aspects related to quality of life and motor function in subjects with PD.