Effects of trunk mobility exercise and treadmill training on functional performance of patients with Parkinson’s disease: A single-subject experimental study

Introduction This study aimed to investigate the effects of integrating treadmill training with trunk mobility exercise on functional performance in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Methods Fourteen patients with PD volunteered for this study. This single-subject experimental study used an A-B-C design: (A) baseline, (B) intervention-1 (trunk mobility exercise alone), and (C) intervention-2 (trunk mobility exercise and treadmill training). No intervention was performed during the A phase. Trunk mobility exercise focusing on large trunk and limb motions was performed during the B phase. The C phase included treadmill training in addition to trunk mobility exercise. Outcome measures included the 10-m walk test (10MWT), timed up-and-go (TUG) test, unified Parkinson’s disease rating scale Part III, Berg balance scale, dynamic gait index, and new activities of daily living questionnaire. Results In the comparison of individual data, most participants showed improved 10 MWT and TUG test scores during the B and C phases when compared with those in the baseline phase, except for one participant for the TUG test score. Moreover, group data comparison revealed significantly improved scores for all parameters after the B phase (p < 0.05), and these gains improved synergistically after the C phase (p < 0.05). Conclusions These findings suggest that trunk mobility exercises are beneficial for enhancing balance and walking function in patients with PD; furthermore, the benefits are improved synergistically by integrating treadmill training.