Short-Term Effects of Rock Steady Boxing Exercise on the Balance Ability of People with Parkinson’s Disease: An Interventional Experimental Study

The occurrence of injuries due to unintentional falls becomes particularly dangerous in people with neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease (PD). The present study aimed to evaluate the influence of the Rock Steady Boxing (RSB) program’s single training units on body stability changes in elderly people with PD. Data from 18 patients (PG) and a similar-age 15-person control group without PD (CG) were used to analyze the collected study material. Postural stabilography was used to assess balance ability in two 30-second tests of standing on both feet with eyes open (EO) and closed (EC). The EO_CoP path length was significantly (p = 0.007) longer in the PG (266 ± 105 mm) compared to the CG (172 ± 32 mm), and similar differences were obtained for other parameters. PG measurements were taken over four consecutive weeks of RSB, both before and after each 90-minute training session. The lack of relevant differences be-tween measurements before vs. after for the PG may indicate the appropriate adaptation of exercisers to the applied loads. The probability of the compared parameters ranged from p = 0.586 to p = 0.999. Participation in RSB-based physical activity resulted in a deterioration in balance ability in the majority of participants immediately after exer-cise, but the results were characterized by a large spread, and the changes varied indi-vidually. Therefore, sports activities for PD must be adapted accordingly, taking into account the stage of the disease or the duration of the disease.