According to a study, patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) would benefit from riding a bicycle since it improves motor performance, particularly important gait aspects.
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| Photo: Senior Riding a Mountain Bike | InStyleHealth |
The researchers conducted a systematic review and
meta-analysis of trials that looked at the effects of bicycling on people with
Parkinson's disease. They looked through a variety of internet sources and
chose 22 trials with a total of 505 patients to include.
The interventions lasted anywhere from one to twelve
weeks (on average, 5.3 weeks), with one to five sessions per week. Three
studies did not report bicycling cadence (revolutions per minute, rpm), but the
remaining 18 did.
Cadence was measured in 10-rpm increments between 40
and 50 rpm and 80 and 90 rpm. Nine of the 18 studies focused on rpms between 70
and 80 or 80 and 90. In some studies, the intervention was said to be helped,
while in others it was not.
Bicycling therapies had a significant effect on motor
outcomes (standardized mean difference [SMD], 0.55, 95 percent confidence
interval [CI], 0.27 to 0.82; p0.001; I2, 53.5 percent) when data
from all 22 studies were combined. The effect was diminished but remained
significant when three studies that contributed to high heterogeneity were
excluded (SMD, 0.35, 95 percent CI, 0.21–0.48; p0.001; I2, 0%).
Moreover, bicycling had a stronger positive effect on
motor results (SMD, 0.42, 95 percent CI, 0.27–0.58) than on cognitive outcomes
(SMD, 0.15, 95 percent CI, 0.11 to 0.4). Additionally, a lengthier treatment
period resulted in greater advantages than a single therapy.
Balance, walking speed, and capacity, as well as the
Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire 39 (PDQ-39) ratings, were improved with
riding.
Source: NPJ Parkinsons Dis
2021;doi:10.1038/s41531-021-00222-6