Abstract
Objective: To investigate the effects of motor-cognitive training on individuals with Parkinson disease (PD) compared with community dwelling elderly. Method: This is a randomized clinical trial, in which participated five elderly people [mean age 68.3 (2.03) years] and five patients with idiopathic PD [mean age 67.7 (2.1) years, stages 1–3 in the Hoehn and Yahr scale]. Participants underwent 14 training sessions of one hour of duration each one, twice a week. Training was conducted in groups with a maximum of five elderlies. The program included challenging exercises for balance and cognition, including warming up, strengthening, flexibility, aerobic training, gait, balance and transfer training. Participants were assessed pre and post-test and after 30 days [follow-up (FU)]. Cognition and balance were assessed by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and Mini-Balance Evaluation Systems Test (Mini-BESTest), respectively. Study was registered in Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials (RBR-27kqv5). Results: Both groups showed improvement on balance and cognition post-test with maintenance of its effects on the FU. However, this improvement was substantial in the elderly group, but there was is not difference between groups. The mean (SD) scores in scales evaluated in the elderly were: Mini-BESTest were: 26.9 ± 3.4 (pre-test), 29.4 ± 3.7 (post-test) and 28.7 ± 2.8 (FU); MoCA were 24.0 ± 5.2 (pre-test), 26.7 ± 3.3 (post-test) and 26.9 ± 4.4 (FU). The mean (SD) scores of PD patients on Mini-BESTest were: 24.0 ± 3.9 (pre-test), 24.4 ± 4.1 (post-test) and 26.3 ± 3.7 (FU); MoCA were 21.3 ± 4.5 (pre-test), 23.6 ± 5.5 (post-test) and 23.4 ± 4.5 (FU). Conclusion: The proposed intervention promoted improvement on balance and cognition in PD patients and community dwelling elderly.