Physical Exercise as a Potential Treatment for Fatigue in Parkinson’s Disease? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Pharmacological and Non-Pharmacological Interventions

BACKGROUND: Fatigue is one of the most common and debilitating non-motor symptoms among patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and significantly impacts quality of life. Therefore, effective treatment options are needed. OBJECTIVE: To provide an update on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) including pharmacological and non-pharmacological (but non-surgical) treatments that examine the effects of fatigue on PD patients. METHODS: We searched the MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CENTRAL, and CINAHL databases for (cross-over) RCTs on pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for treating fatigue in PD patients until May 2021. Meta-analyses for random-effects models were calculated when two or more studies on the same treatment option were available using standardized mean differences (SMDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: Fourteen pharmacological and 16 non-pharmacological intervention RCTs were identified. For pharmacological approaches, a meta-analysis could only be performed for modafinil compared to placebo (n = 2) revealing a non-significant effect on fatigue (SMD = – 0.21, 95% CI – 0.74–0.31, p = 0.43). Regarding non-pharmacological approaches, physical exercise (n = 8) following different training approaches versus passive or placebo control groups showed a small significant effect (SMD = – 0.37, 95% CI – 0.69‐ – 0.05, p = 0.02) which could not be demonstrated for acupuncture vs. sham-acupuncture (SMD = 0.16, 95% CI – 0.19–0.50, p = 0.37). CONCLUSION: Physical exercise may be a promising strategy to treat fatigue in PD patients. Further research is required to examine the efficacy of this treatment strategy and further interventions. Future studies should differentiate treatment effects on physical and mental fatigue as the different underlying mechanisms of these symptoms may lead to different treatment responses. More effort is required to develop, evaluate, and implement holistic fatigue management strategies for PD patients.