Objective: To investigate the effects of dance as complementary therapy over the presentation of depression and apathy in people with Parkinson’s Disease (PD).

Background: Depression and apathy are the most prevalent neuropsychiatric alterations in PD and are commonly misjudged in the clinic. Dance has been proposed as a complementary therapy for people with PD because it is an attractive and enjoyable form of physical exercise that enrolls several neural systems.

Method: This research was ethically approved. The sample consisted of 10 participants with PD, with 63.9±11.9 years of age, and averaged 3.7±2.3 years since diagnosis. They voluntarily enrolled to participate in the Baila Parkinson dance therapy project and were tested for detection of depression and apathy before (pre-) and after (post-) 6 months of participation. The intervention consisted of weekly dance sessions (1h, 2x/week), with different dance styles, planned and adapted for people with PD. The classes were based on 5 work lines: psychoemotional, cognitive, motor, socialization, and body perception. The Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) was applied for PD assessment. The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS15), the Montgomery and Asberg Depression Assessment Scale (MADRS), and the Apathy Scale (AS) were used for the detection of depression and apathy. All licenses and training were observed for all protocols. We performed Pearson Correlation test between the results of the protocols and demographical data, and paired T-Tests to compare the results between pre- and post-intervention periods. Normality tests were performed to ensure the adequacy of the use of parametrical tests.

Results: We observed significant differences between pre- and post-intervention periods for MADRS (p=0.0136), GDS15 (p=0.0498) and AS (p=0.0132) tests. A positive correlation was observed between the results of MADRS and GDS15 (p=0.0320) tests, as well as for MADRS and AS (p=0.0461), and between the participant’s age and AS on pretest (p=0.0100). UPDRS score for the sample was 58.8±18.7.

Conclusion: The results indicate that dance therapy can reduce the presentation of depression and apathy in people with PD. Despite being different diseases, depression and apathy showed similar rates of presentation, and seem to be associated with age, the evolution of PD, and the development of apathy.

« Back to MDS Virtual Congress 2021

MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/can-dance-as-a-complementary-therapy-reduce-the-occurrence-of-depression-and-apathy-in-people-with-parkinsons-disease/