Extrait

Background and study aims People with Parkinson’s Disease (PwPD) are likely to become less steady, less able to move around inside their homes and outside in the community and more prone to falls as the condition progresses. Balance training exercises such as reaching forwards and sideways as far as possible in sitting and standing, turning round and standing up from sitting help to improve steadiness. Limited resources within the NHS led us to consider novel ways of helping PwPD to maintain safe balance control and walking in addition to their normal health care. We propose that a large trial is needed to find out if it is appropriate to encourage PwPD to participate in a community-based dance classes. We aim to test the acceptability and appropriateness of recruiting people with mild to moderate PD and randomly allocating them to receiving usual care or usual care plus a dance class. We have designed a study of 50 people with PD. The study will inform us about the practicalities and appropriateness of PwPD participating in community-based dance classes, the best ways of recruiting PwPD and partners, providing access to dance and the most effective research procedures. Most of this information has not been recorded in the few published papers on this topic. Our findings will provide unique information about the position and movement of the spine, balance control, turning, walking, quality of life, fall frequency and the best ways of collecting information for evaluating the cost benefit. We will ask people to talk about their personal insights and experiences of dance and explore their views about the appropriateness of the activity. The main objective of the study is to provide a basis from which a future larger trial can be effectively planned. The research team has considerable experience in physiotherapy for PwPD with balance problems; one member has a professional qualification as a dance teacher and is a consultant physiotherapist. Who can participate? People diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease who are interested in taking part and have been told about this study either a) by a health professional b) by their Parkinson’s disease support group c) if you have previously agreed that we could inform you of further research taking place at the University of Southampton or with the local research network d) as a result of your response to an advert. What does the study involve? We are planning to recruit 50 people with PD; thirty-five of whom will be randomly allocated to attend a dance class at a local dance centre and 15 will be in a comparison group who will not attend the dance class. We propose to recruit 35 healthy individuals to form dance couples with people with Parkinson’s disease, so that each person with Parkinson’s disease has a healthy dance partner. The study will inform us about the practicalities and appropriateness of PwPD participating in community-based dance classes, the best ways of inviting PwPD and finding dance partners, providing access to dance and the most effective research procedures. We will also ask some of you to tell us about your experiences of taking part in the dance study. This will involve an additional interview at the end of the study. What are the possible benefits and risks of participating? There will be no direct benefit to you from taking part in the study although you might enjoy learning new dance steps and being more active. However it is hoped that the data collected may allow us to find out if dance classes are a good way to improve the balance, posture and turning of people with Parkinson’s disease. This information can then be used to set up a larger trial to see if different forms of rehabilitation such as dancing are effective. Answering questions from questionnaires can sometimes cause distress. You do not have to answer any question you do not wish to answer and we can stop the questions at any point. It is possible that taking part in dance classes can cause instability and put you off balance. To minimize the risk of falling, you are teamed up with a healthy dance partner to aid stability and you will only be taught dance steps that are based on your individual capabilities. You do not have to practice any dance steps you feel unsure about. A qualified dance teacher and a research assistant will be present during the dance sessions to help ensure your safety. A first aider will be on hand to give appropriate treatment as required. Where is the study run from? The University of Southampton When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for? The project started on 1 August 2012 and will run until July 2014. Who is funding the study? The study is funded by the NIHR Research for Patient Benefit Programme Who is the main contact? Professor Ann Ashburn [email protected]

Critère d'inclusion

• Parkinson's disease

Liens

• isrctn
• ictrp