Citation

Mehdizadeh M, Martinez-Martin P, Habibi SAH, Nikbakht N, Alvandi F, Bazipoor P, Panahi A, Taghizadeh G. Basic Clin. Neurosci. 2019; 10(4): 355-362.

Affiliation

Rehabilitation Research Center, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Iran University of Medical Sciences in cooperation with the Iran Neuroscience Society and the Negah Institute for Scientific Communication)

DOI

10.32598/bcn.9.10.295

PMID

32231772

PMCID

PMC7101520

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: In the elderly, functional balance, fear of falling, and independence in daily living activities are interrelated; however, this relationship may change under the influence of drug phase and the severity of disease in individuals with idiopathic Parkinson disease. This study aimed to investigate the association of functional balance, fear of falling, and independence in the Activities of Daily Living (ADL) with the drug on- and drug off-phases.

METHODS: A total of 140 patients with Parkinson disease (age: Mean±SD; 60.51±12.32 y) were evaluated in terms of their functional balance, fear of falling, and independence in their daily activities by the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Fall Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I), and Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale-ADL (UPDRS-ADL), respectively, in drug on- and drug off-phases. The Hoehn and Yahr scale recorded global disease rating. The Spearman coefficient, Kruskal-Wallis, and Mann-Whitney tests were used to find out whether the distribution of scale scores differs with regard to functional balance or disease severity.

RESULTS: A strong correlation was found between the functional balance, fear of falling, and independence in ADL with both drug phases. The results also showed the significant difference in the distribution of the FES-I and UPDRS-ADL scores with regard to functional balance (except independence in ADL in drug off-phase). Also, the distribution of the scores of BBS, FES-I, and UPDRS-ADL showed significant differences with regard to disease severity.

CONCLUSION: The study showed a strong correlation between functional balance, fear of falling, and independence in ADL that can be affected by the drug phase and severity of the disease. However, more studies are needed to understand this relationship precisely.

Copyright© 2019 Iranian Neuroscience Society.

Language: en

Keywords

Activities of daily living; Fear; Parkinson disease; Postural balance