Effect of twelve weeks balance training in water on postural Balance in Patients with Parkinson's disease

Parkinson is a chronic, degenerative and destructive disease of the nervous system that is caused by the destruction of dopaminergic neurons that reside in the substantia nigra of the midbrain. It often happens in the ages of between 50 and 60 and one of its characteristics is the lack of balance. The goal by this present research was to study the effect of balance training in water on the patients with PD.
The present semi-experimental study used a pretest-posttest control group design. The study population included patients referred to the Hospital of Alzahra. 36 men patients with Parkinson that were non-randomly selected and randomly divided into experimental (n=20) and control (n=16) groups. The experimental group in addition to medication, performed activity in water 3 times/ week, 60 minutes for 12 weeks whereas control subjects were treated only by medication and routine activities performed. Before intervention and three months after the intervention, the patient's balance was assessed by BBS. Data using ANCOVA (P In comparison with the control group, the intervention group balance scores after 12 weeks of balance training in the water were greatly improved(49/1 to 53/70).
Findings showed that balance training in water can be used as useful and effective method to improve balance and in turn daily functioning of PD patients. According to the severity of disease in patients participating in this study (I-III), the results can be extended only to this group of patients.