Scientists at the University of Southampton have begun a new study to evaluate the benefits of exercises and strategies for preventing falls among people with Parkinson’s disease.
Parkinson’s disease is a common, progressive condition that affects the body’s nervous system. Over time people with Parkinson’s disease are likely to become less steady, less able to move around within their homes and more prone to falls. Although drugs are available to treat the symptoms of the condition, balance control does not respond to drugs as well as some other symptoms.
PDSAFE is a personalised treatment programme, which includes physiotherapy techniques that are tailored to the individual and have been shown to reduce symptoms and the number of falls.
Now researchers, led by Professor Ann Ashburn, Professor of Rehabilitation at the University of Southampton, are to assess the benefits of PDSAFE and how cost effective it is.
Professor Ashburn comments: “Parkinson’s disease mainly develops in people over 50 years of age. It becomes more common with increasing age. In the UK only a small percentage (28 per cent) of people with Parkinson’s disease have access to physiotherapy. Preventing a cycle of inactivity and falls is a priority for health care workers but research into the benefits of disease specific exercises and strategies is limited. We know that exercise can improve balance control but little work has been done on whether it actually reduces fall rates. We want to find out if patients who follow PDSAFE exercises fall less than those who don’t and in turn, how cost effective that reduction can be.”
The study, funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) Programme, aims to recruit 600 people with Parkinson’s disease from four areas in the South of England; Southampton, Bournemouth, Portsmouth and Exeter. Participants will be in one of two groups; one will receive PDSAFE and the other will not. Fall rates data will be taken, compared and analysed.
The University of Southampton will be working with the Universities of Newcastle, Oxford, Glasgow, Exeter and Leuven in Belgium, during the four-year study.
