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Ambulatory activity in incident Parkinson’s: more than meets the eye?

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An Erratum to this article was published on 29 October 2013

Abstract

Physical activity is important for people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) to improve disease-specific impairment and ameliorate secondary consequences related to deconditioning. Activity may also have a neuroprotective role if instigated early. Ambulatory activity has not been examined in incident PD. Eighty-nine newly diagnosed PD cases [mean (SD) age 67.3 (9.9) years] and 97 controls [mean (SD) 69.2 (7.7) years] wore an activity monitor (activPAL™) for 7 days. Volume, pattern and variability outcomes were compared. Accumulation of activity (α) was classified as short (< 30 s), medium (30 s–2 min) and long (> 2 min) bouts of walking. Associations between sustained walking (> 2 min) and motor, cognitive and affective characteristics were identified. Activity outcomes were considered with respect to global health recommendations. Total steps (volume), accumulation of bout length (α), and variability (S2w) outcomes were significantly different (all P < 0.001). PD participants (including Hoehn & Yahr (H&Y) stage I) accumulated significantly less time in long bouts (> 2 min) of walking compared with controls, due to performing fewer long bouts, rather than a reduction in time spent in walking per bout. For PD and controls there were weak but significant correlations for a range of characteristics and sustained walking. Fewer people with PD achieved the recommended 30 min of walking per day comprised of bouts > 10 min (P = 0.02) and bouts > 2 min (P < 0.001). People with PD were significantly less active than controls, with an inability to sustain levels of walking, and with differences apparent very early on in the disease process. A focus on increasing general ambulatory activity and exercise from the outset is recommended.

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Notes

  1. PAL Technologies, Glasgow, UK.

  2. Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA, USA.

  3. CIR Systems Inc., NJ, USA.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Lifelong Health and Wellbeing (LLHW) initiative, which is a funding collaboration between the UK’s Research Councils and Health Departments and supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre based at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Newcastle University. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Ageing Research Unit, Institute for Ageing and Health, Newcastle University, Campus for Ageing and Vitality, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 5PL, UK

    Sue Lord, Alan Godfrey, Brook Galna, Dadirayi Mhiripiri, David Burn & Lynn Rochester

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  1. Sue Lord
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  2. Alan Godfrey
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  3. Brook Galna
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  4. Dadirayi Mhiripiri
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Correspondence to Lynn Rochester.

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Lord, S., Godfrey, A., Galna, B. et al. Ambulatory activity in incident Parkinson’s: more than meets the eye?. J Neurol 260, 2964–2972 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-013-7037-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-013-7037-5

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