Background. Recently, there has been an increase in swimming disorders among patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), resulting in a partial or complete loss of this motor skill. The study of these disorders is of considerable scientific and practical interest, since they can significantly limit daily activity, reduce the quality of life, and increase the risk of drowning. Objective. To analyze the prevalence and conduct a clinical and kinematic study of swimming disorders in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Material and methods. The study included 100 patients with Hoehn & Yahr stage I—III PD. The patients were divided into two groups: those with impaired swimming (n=67) and those without impaired swimming (n=33). The groups were comparable in terms of gender, age, and disease duration and stage (p>0.05). The patients of the test group significantly differed from the comparison group due to more severe motor impairments in Part III of the MDS-UPDRS scale (p=0.033) and reduced daily activity according to the Schwab & England Activities of Daily Living Scale, p=0.041. Swimming assessment methods included the following: all participants performed video recording of swimming in the pool with synchronous recording of movements using inertial sensors (accelerometer+gyroscope) and underwater video cameras. Additional methods included clinical and neurological examination and assessment with standard scales (MDS-UPDRS, Schwab & England, scales for assessing cognitive and affective functions). Results. Our study indicated that swimming disorders are common symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and may develop early on. The study established a link between swimming-related motor disorders and axial motor disorders. Further research is needed to study this unusual manifestation in detail and the methods for its treatment.
Smolentseva et al. (Tue,) studied this question.
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