The Effects Of Equine-assisted Therapy On Bradykinesia And Motor Function In Adults With Parkinson's Disease: A Preliminary Analysis

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is neurological disorder caused by the destruction of dopamine-producing neurons in the substantia nigra of the brain. To treat motor symptoms of PD, individuals may choose alternative modes of exercise, such as equine-assisted therapy (EAT), to improve physiological health. PURPOSE: To determine changes in bradykinesia and motor function following 8 weeks of EAT in older men with PD. METHODS: Eleven men (70.6 + 8.4 yrs, 94.9 + 12.4 kg, 180.6 + 7.7 cm) diagnosed with PD (2.5 + 0.5 Hoehn & Yahr scale) performed two, 60-minute riding sessions weekly for 8 weeks. Twice before (separated by 8 weeks), midway, immediately after, and twice after (at 8 and 16 weeks) the EAT program, bradykinesia and motor function was assessed. At each session, to assess bradykinesia, the 8-character sequence ‘elelelel’ was written in cursive 10 times using a modified digitizer pen on a graphic tablet (Intuous Pro, Wacom Technology Corp, Portland, OR). Movement was recorded using the MovAlyzeR software (Neuroscript LLC, USA) with a sampling frequency of 100 Hz. The mean velocity (m/s), acceleration (m/s2), and time of writing each letter sequence (s) was recorded. To assess motor function, the motor portion of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) and Fullerton Advanced Balance Scale (FABS) were administered. A repeated measures analysis-of-variance (ANOVA) across the six time points was used to examine change over time with significance set p < .05. RESULTS: There were no differences between UPDRS scores (8wk pre 39 ± 11; pre 42 ± 14; mid 38 ± 10; post 34 ± 13; 8wk post 36 ± 13; 16wk post 41 ± 14; p > .05) or FABS scores (8wk pre 30 ± 7; pre 31 ± 7; mid 31 ± 5; post 32 ± 6; 8wk post 31 ± 7; 16wk post 30 ± 6; p > .05) across time. There were no differences between mean absolute velocity (8wk pre 0.01 ± 0.01; mid 0.02 ± 0.02; post 0.02 ± 0.02; 8wk post 0.02 ± 0.02; 16wk post 0.02 ± 0.02 m/s; p > .05), acceleration (8wk pre 0.02 ± 0.01; mid 0.03 ± 0.03; post 0.03 ± 0.04; 8wk post 0.03 ± 0.04; 16wk post 0.02 ± 0.04 m/s2; p > .05) or time to write each letter peak (8wk pre 0.4 ± 0.06; mid 0.42 ± 0.07; post 0.42 ± 0.05; 8wk post 0.41 ± 0.06; 16wk post 0.41 ± 0.06 s; p > .05). CONCLUSION: Based on preliminary analysis, 8 weeks of EAT maintained motor function in older men with PD. More participants are being recruited to further observe the effects of EAT on PD symptomology. Funding: Human Animal Bond Research Institute