The 'PD Warrior' exercise program improves motor outcomes and quality of life in patients with early Parkinson's disease: results of a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: 'PD Warrior' (PDW) is a popular exercise program for Parkinson's disease; however, there are no published studies on the outcomes of the program.

AIMS: To investigate short-term functional and quality of life (QoL) outcomes after the PDW 10-week program in a pilot study of individuals with early Parkinson's Disease (PD).

METHODS: Twenty individuals with PD (Hoehn & Yahr 1-3) attending a hospital outpatient clinic were recruited into the PDW 10-week program, comprising a weekly 1-h supervised class complemented by an individualised daily home exercise program. Participants had the following assessments at baseline and after completion of the program: Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) Part III, timed up-and-go (TUG), 10-m walk test (10mWT), 6-min walking test (6MWT), balance tests, fine motor skills, 7-day Parkinson's KinetiGraph (PKG) and PDQ-39 QoL scale.

RESULTS: Seventeen individuals completed the program. Significant improvements were observed in MDS-UPDRS motor score (P = 0.019, d = 0.68, MCID 7); 6MWT distance (P < 0.001, d = 1.16); walking time during motor or cognitive dual tasking (P = 0.006, d = 0.77; P = 0.005, d = 0.79, respectively); and the PDQ-39 emotional well-being subdomain (P = 0.009; MCID 4.2); as well as improvements trending to significance in bradykinesia (P = 0.025, d = 0.73), 10mWT walking time (P = 0.023, d = 0.61) and borderline improvement in balance (P = 0.056, d = 0.50).

CONCLUSIONS: The outcomes of this study support the efficacy of the PDW program in individuals with early PD and provide justification for future trials and investigation of its effects.