Dance in Parkinson's Disease. A Greek Pilot Study

Parkinson's Disease (PD) is an idiopathic, neurodegenerative, and progressive movement disorder caused mainly by dysfunction of dopaminergic cells of the substantia nigra. Numerous studies demonstrate the benefits of regular physical exercise in PD, with aerobic exercise having a greater neuroprotective effect by stimulating brain neuroplasticity. People with PD are more easily motivated to attend dance classes systematically than other forms of exercise, they have a high compliance rate with low dropouts, and often continue to practice dance outside the dance intervention.

DfPD® (Dance for Parkinson's Disease®, or Dance for PD®) was developed by the Brooklyn Parkinson Group (BPG) in collaboration with the Mark Morris Dance Group (MMDG) in 2001.This intervention has previously been shown to exert beneficial effect on QoL, motor functions, cognition, self-efficacy, anxiety and depression in people with PD. To the investigators' knowledge, there is no study investigating the effect of any structured dance program in Greek PD patients. Furthermore, no study to date has investigated the effect of DfPD® on PD patients' fatigue. The present pilot study aimed at evaluating for the first time the efficacy, safety and feasibility of a culturally adjusted DfPD® program in Greek patients with early-to-mid-stage PD.

This is a prospective, non-randomized, uncontrolled, open-label, pilot study. A total of 16 early-to-mid-stage PD patients underwent a total of 16 60-min classes of adjusted to Greek music and dance culture DfPD®, twice weekly, over 8 weeks. Assessments were performed at baseline and at the end of the study period and included quality of life, depressive symptoms, fatigue, cognitive functions, balance and body mass index. Safety and feasibility were also assessed.

Inclusion criteria

• Age ≥18 years
• An established diagnosis of idiopathic PD of an early-to-moderate severity; that is from 0 to 2,5 according to Hoehn and Yahr (H&Y) stages
• Ability to understand, write and speak in Greek
• Written consent for participating into the study

Exclusion criteria

• A diagnosis of a non-PD tremor disorder
• Moderate-to-severe PD (≥3 H&Y stages) due to a high falls risk
• Serious health or disability issues (either physical or mental) due of which exercise is not permitted and/or basic instructions during the program cannot be followed
• Mental disorder not related to PD
• Any disease other than PD which could affect mobility levels