Unveiling the Impact of Outpatient Physiotherapy on Specific Motor Symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease: A Prospective Cohort Study

Understanding how outpatient physiotherapy impacts on specific motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD) is important for multidisciplinary care, but these points have not been clarified. We investigated the impact of outpatient physiotherapy on individual motor symptoms in PD patients. Fifty-five PD patients participated in the prospective cohort study, which examined the changes in motor symptoms after 90 min of outpatient physiotherapy program (1×/week for 10 weeks) and at 3 months follow-up. Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) motor score and tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, and axial scores were assessed and compared pre-intervention, post-intervention, and at follow-up. Significant level was set at 0.05. Their MDS-UPDRS motor score and axial score significantly decreased post-intervention and at the follow-up. In the analysis differentiating effects based on the severity of motor symptoms according to the MDS-UPDRS motor score, only the moderate-severe group showed significant decreases in their MDS-UPDRS motor score, bradykinesia, and axial scores post-intervention, as well as in their MDS-UPDRS motor score, rigidity, bradykinesia, and axial scores at the follow-up. These findings suggest the outpatient physiotherapy might provide benefits, particularly in managing axial symptoms and bradykinesia, for community dwelling PD patients with moderate-severe motor symptoms within a multidisciplinary care framework.