Effect of the strength and stability training program on postural control and cognitive functions in patients with Parkinson's disease

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of strength and strength-stability exercise program on postural control and cognitive functions in Parkinson's disease patients. In our study, 30 Parkinson's disease patients were divided into three groups as strength (n=10, 61.90±7.89years), strength-stability (n=10, 64.60±6.97years) and control (n=10, 65.70±11.24years) groups. Parkinson's Modified Hoehn-Yahr Staging test, Mini Mental test, Berg Balance Scale, Strength test and Reaction test were applied to the participants before and after exercise. In the pre-test and post-test comparison of the Berg Balance Scale and Mini Mental Tests, a difference was found in the strength and strength-stability groups (p<0.05). In the comparison of the strength test pre-test and post-test, there was a significant difference in the strength-stability and strength groups (p<0.05), while there was no statistically significant difference in the control group participants (p>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the reaction test pre-test post-test results and difference scores of all three groups (p>0.05). When the difference scores between the groups were examined, berg balance, strength test and mini mental test scores showed statistically significant improvement in the study groups compared to the control group (p<0.05). According to the results of the study, it is seen that the applied training programs are effective on postural control and cognitive function parameters, while it is predicted that if the program is continuous, it will also be effective on other symptoms. Keywords: Balance, reaction, strength.