The investigation of postüral instability, core stability and foot plantar pressure in mild to moderate parkinson disease

This study was carried out to investigate postüral instability, core stability and foot plantar pressure in mild to moderate Parkinson disease (PD) and how these changes related to each other. The study included 24 PD patients with Hoehn&Yahr score between 1-3 and 23 healthy volunteers of similar age and gender. Balance was evaluated with Biodex-BioSway™ Balance system for postüral instability; core power was evaluated with sit-ups test and modified push-ups test; core endurance was evaluated with trunk flexion test, modified Biering-Sorensen test, prone bridge test and right and left lateral bridge test. The individuals' posture, foot plantar pressure and fall risk were evaluated with PostureScreen Mobile application, Tekscan HR MatScan™ Pressure Mat system and Berg Balance Score (BBS), respectively. In the foot plantar pressure evaluation Center of Force (CoF) deviation was used for right and left foot. As a result of the study, it was found that the balance, core power and core endurance of mild to moderate PD patients decreased according to the control group (p<0,05). It was seen that postüral changes of PD patients were different compared to the control group (p<0,05). There was no difference CoF deviation of PD patients compared to the control group (p>0,05). BBS of PD patients increased compared to the control group (p<0,05). It was observed that there was a negative relationship between balance disorder and core strength and core endurance, and a positive relationship between posture in PD patients (p<0,05). As a result, it was concluded that approaches to improve the core stability and posture for protection and improvement of the balance must be given from the earliest period in the absence of significant disability in patients with mild to moderate PD. Keywords: Core, parkinson disease, posture, postural instability, plantar pressure