A High Dose Tango Intervention for People with Parkinson's disease (PwPD)

Abstract Background Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder for which there is no cure. Exercise-based programs are customarily suggested to address motor and non-motor impairments. Dance has been used to supplement ongoing therapies for people with PD, usually on a weekly or biweekly basis proving to be a feasible option for neurorehabilitation. A daily dose of dance, however, may also be feasible -as indicated by previous studies- suggesting to provide careful attention to the question of dose in efficacy. Objectives This study examines the dose effect of daily dance for people with PD on motor and non-motor functions directly within a movement disorders clinic. Design Within-subject, pre-post-intervention, mixed-methods evaluation including the Movement Disorders Society Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale part III (MDS-UPDRS III). Methods Eight people with mild and moderate severity idiopathic Parkinson’s disease participated in the study consisting in ten dance lessons, each 90-minutes daily within a two-week period. All subjects were paired with expert tango dancers. The Movement Disorders Society Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale part III was used for pre- and post-motor assessment. A Likert Scale and Exit Interviews were conducted to assess the impact of the dance intervention on participants’ experience. Results Our study found a significant 18% amelioration in motor symptoms as measured by the MDS-UPDRS III in the pre and post-dance intervention (P Conclusions A high dose short-term tango intervention for people with PD improved motor and non-motor aspects of PD with high levels of adherence (97.5%). The frequency or dosage of dance in neurorehabilitation suggests that a high dose (5 times per week) can ameliorate motor symptoms of PD and could be used as a short-term intervention.