Effects of Pilates and Elastic Taping on Balance and Postural Control in Early Stage Parkinson's Disease Patients: A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial

Introduction: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of Pilates training and elastic taping on balance and postural control in patients with early stage Parkinson's Disease (PD).

Method: Patients were randomly divided into Pilates, elastic taping, and control (wait list) groups. Pilates training was performed for 6 weeks, twice a week and 60 minutes per session. In elastic taping group, in addition to Pilates training, elastic taping was applied to the upper back twice a week for 6 weeks with the aim of postural correction. In order to evaluate the postural control before and after the training, Berg Balance Scale, Trunk Impairment Scale, the tests of NeuroCom Balance Master performance test device as Limits of stability (LOS), Sit-to Stand, Walk Across and Tandem Walking Tests were performed.

Results: The data of 20 patients (6 male in Pilates group, 2 female and 6 male in elastic taping group, 3 female and 3 male in control group) were analyzed. Reaction times in LOS test decreased significantly and walking speed in Walk Across test increased significantly after 6 weeks in Pilates and elastic taping groups. In elastic taping group, the postural sways of Tandem Walk test were decreased significantly and, the rising index in Sit-to-Stand test increased significantly after 6 weeks (Wilcoxon Test, p<0.05).

Conclusion: We believe that Pilates is a feasible rehabilitation strategy for PD, and it has a remedial effect on the dynamic balance and postural control for these patients. We also think that elastic taping could be applied for supporting the right posture.