Objectively Assessed Physical Activity and its Association with Balance, Physical Function and Dyskinesia in Parkinson’s Disease

Background: The desirable effects of physical activity in individuals with Parkinson’s disease are well-known, although according to results from previous studies factors associated with objectively assessed physical activity are not fully investigated.

Objective: To investigate demographic, disease-related and mobility-related factors that associate with objectively measured physical activity, in a sample of older adults with mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease.

Methods: Demographic, disease-related and mobility-related factors were gathered by interview from a total of 91 older adults with Parkinson’s disease, followed by an evaluation of balance control using the Mini-BESTest. After initial testing, participants wore a tri-axial accelerometer during a week of free-living. Correlation analysis and multiple linear regression was used to investigate factors associated with total PA, represented by total activity counts, and time in brisk walking.

Results: Motor impairment, physical function, body mass index and dyskinesia contributed to the variance of total physical activity, explaining 34 % of the variance, while physical function and balance control were significant factors associated with brisk walking, explaining 22 %.

Conclusions: This study identified factors that have not been shown to associate with objectively measured physical activity previously, such as dyskinesia, balance control and self-rated physical function. The findings also demonstrated that associated factors differ, depending on the activity behavior being investigated. However, other factors than those included in this study may also be of importance.