Objective: To explore feasibility and acute and longitudinal effects of the PD-Ballet intervention in advanced Parkinson’s disease(PD)(Hoehn&Yahr [HY] stages IV-V).

Background: Programmed physical activity such as dance is known to improve motor and non-motor(NM) symptoms of PD[1]. Current evidence focuses mainly on mild to moderate severity of PD, with little attention to those in advanced stages of motor progression. This abstract explores effects of a dance-based intervention and its feasibility in PD HY IV and V, who have participated in the PD-Ballet study, world-first randomised clinical trial of such intervention for holistic management of PD.

Method: PD-Ballet is a randomised, controlled, single-blind study evaluating feasibility, effectiveness, and professional implementation of a 12-week ballet programme delivered by English National Ballet. Of 77 recruited participants, seven were presenting with advanced PD and five were randomly allocated to the active group. Feasibility was explored by a percentage of attended sessions, and motor and non-motor outcomes were examined to observe for change at immediate and delayed follow up.

Results: Across the cohort of 5 participants with HY IV or V, mean attendance rate was 93.8%. Mean scores for total MDS-NMS were 174 at baseline, 116 and immediate follow up and 107 points at delayed follow-up. Mean scores for total MDS-UPDRS were 79, 79, and 71 respectively. Mean scores for MDS-UPDRS III were 48, 46 and 41 respectively. Mean scores for Timed Up and Go test were 40s, 20s, and 26s respectively. Mean scores for self-selected walking velocity were 0.7m/s, 0.8m/s, and 0.7m/s respectively. Mean scores for fast walking velocity were 0.7m/s, 0.9m/s, and 0.9m/s respectively. Mean scores for pain as measured by KPPS were 17, 11 and 15 respectively. Mean scores for mood dysfunction as measured by HADS were 14, 16 and 21 respectively. Mean scores for apathy as measured by the Apathy Scale were 16, 16 and 15 respectively. Mean scores for PDQ-8 were 14, 14 and 21 respectively. See Table 1.

Conclusion: This is world’s first dataset demonstrating changes across motor and NM symptoms of PD in advanced PwP who undergo a ballet-based dance intervention, demonstrated to be feasible. Larger dataset is needed to perform robust statistical analyses, though the current results suggest that PD-Ballet may improve NM and some motor symptoms and this improvement could be long-lasting.

References: 1.Ernst M, Folkerts AK, Gollan R, Lieker E, Caro-Valenzuela J, Adams A, Cryns N, Monsef I, Dresen A, Roheger M, Eggers C, Skoetz N, Kalbe E. Physical exercise for people with Parkinson’s disease: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2023 Jan 5;1(1):CD013856. Doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD013856.pub2. PMID: 36602886; PMCID: PMC981543

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/exploring-feasibility-and-efficacy-of-a-ballet-based-intervention-in-advanced-parkinsons-disease/