Effect of balance training on postural instability in patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease.

BACKGROUND: Postural instability (PI) is a disabling sign of Parkinson's disease (PD) not easily amenable to treatment with medication.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of balance training on PI in patients with PD.

METHODS: A total of 64 patients with PI were randomly assigned to the experimental group (n = 33) for balance training or to the control group (n = 31) for general physical exercises. Each patient received 21 treatment sessions of 50 minutes each. Patients were evaluated by a blinded rater before and after treatment as well as 1 month posttreatment using the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Activities-Specific Balance Confidence Scale (ABC), postural transfer test, self-destabilization of the center of foot pressure test, number of falls, Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), modified Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y) Staging Scale, and Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS).

RESULTS: At the end of treatment, the experimental group showed significant improvements in all outcome measures, except for the UPDRS and the H&Y scale. Improvement was maintained at the 1-month follow-up in all outcome measures except for the GDS. No significant changes in performance were observed in the control group.

CONCLUSIONS: A program of balance training can improve PI in patients with PD.