Rehabilitation in Parkinson’s disease: Current status and future directions

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease is a common progressive neurodegenerative disease. Apart from pharmacological treatment, nonpharmacological management in the form of rehabilitation, counselling, and supportive care is an equally important therapeutic pillar. A MEDLINE search strategy using the following terms (1998–2019) was adopted for this review. Limits of “Human” and “English” were applied. Search terms included “Parkinson’s Disease” AND “rehabilitation,” “physical therapy,” “exercise therapy,” “physiotherapy,” and “dance.” Review articles, practice parameters, guidelines, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, randomized controlled trials, and cohort studies were included. Rehabilitation strategies in the management of Parkinson’s disease form a vital component of therapy. There is mounting evidence to support physical therapy in these patients. Rehabilitation should be offered to these patients right from the start to encourage an active lifestyle and to improve quality of life.

Keywords

• music therapy
• occupational therapy
• parkinson’s disease
• physical therapy
• rehabilitation
• speech therapy
• supportive therapy
• yoga