The PD-Ballet Study: A World First Randomised Controlled, Single-blinded, Diversity-enabled Trial of Dance Therapy for Parkinson’s
Aleksandra Podlewska1, Lucia Batzu1, Juliet Staunton3, Phoebe Tall3, Valentina Leta4, Alexandra Rizos3, Fleur Derbyshire-Fox5, Alison Hartley5, Tayana Soukup6, Nick Sevdalis7, Nikki Crane2, Andy Healy8, Ioannis Bakolis8, Carmine Pariante1, Anthony Woods1, K Ray Chaudhuri1
1Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, 2King's College London, 3Research and Development, King's College Hospital, 4Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, 5Engagement, English National Ballet, 6Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, 7Centre for Behavioural & Implementation Science Interventions, National University of Singapore, 8Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London
Objective:
To evaluate the effects of a ballet-based world first dance intervention on the key non-motor and motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease using validated outcome measures.
Background:
To date, beneficial effects of multimodal exercise programmes on Parkinson’s disease (PD) have focused on motor symptoms and little attention has been paid to the potential effects of such programmes on the non-motor symptoms of PD, which are now universally known as one of the key drivers of quality of life and a key unmet need [1].
Design/Methods:
A randomised, single-blind, controlled, diversity-enabled trial of 77 people with Parkinson’s across all motor stages randomly allocated to either an intervention (n=53) or a control group (n=24). Primary outcome was a change in non-motor symptoms as measured by the Movement Disorders Society Non-Motor Scale (MDS-NMS). The intervention protocol consisted of 12 one-weekly dance sessions led by English National Ballet dancers, as part of the Wellcome Trust-funded SHAPER programme. Each session was followed by a ‘tea and biscuit’ social time. Control group followed standard clinical pathway and joined the ‘tea and biscuit’ to control for any positive effects of social interactions. All participants were assessed at baseline, immediately after completion of the intervention and 3-6 months later to explore any potential longitudinal effects.
Results:
Immediate follow-up data were analysed. No significant differences between active and control groups were found at baseline. Between-group differences in MDS-NMS total scores were observed at immediate follow up (p=0.002). In addition, significant improvements were observed in the Movement Disorders Society-Unified PD Rating Scale total score (p<0.001) as well as the King’s Parkinson Pain Scale total score (p=0.035) in the active group.
Conclusions:
Multimodal, programmed exercise interventions such as PD-Ballet can lead to an improvement of overall non-motor burden, pain and motor symptoms, including but not limited to activities of daily living.