Original article
Community-Based Argentine Tango Dance Program Is Associated With Increased Activity Participation Among Individuals With Parkinson's Disease

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2012.07.028Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective

To determine the effects of a 12-month community-based tango dance program on activity participation among individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD).

Design

Randomized controlled trial with assessment at baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months.

Setting

Intervention was administered in the community; assessments were completed in a university laboratory.

Participants

Volunteers with PD (n=62) enrolled in the study and were randomized to a treatment group; 10 participants did not receive the allocated intervention, and therefore the final analyzed sample included 52 participants.

Interventions

Participants were randomly assigned to the tango group, which involved 12 months of twice-weekly Argentine tango dance classes, or to the no intervention control group (n=26 per group).

Main Outcome Measure

Current, new, and retained participation in instrumental, leisure, and social activities, as measured by the Activity Card Sort (with the dance activity removed).

Results

Total current participation in the tango group was higher at 3, 6, and 12 months compared with baseline (Ps≤.008), while the control group did not change (Ps≥.11). Total activity retention (since onset of PD) in the tango group increased from 77% to 90% (P=.006) over the course of the study, whereas the control group remained around 80% (P=.60). These patterns were similar in the separate activity domains. The tango group gained a significant number of new social activities (P=.003), but the control group did not (P=.71).

Conclusions

Individuals with PD who participated in a community-based Argentine tango class reported increased participation in complex daily activities, recovery of activities lost since the onset of PD, and engagement in new activities. Incorporating dance into the clinical management of PD may benefit participation and subsequently quality of life for this population.

Section snippets

Participants

Participants were recruited from the clinical research database of the Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) Movement Disorders Center, the WUSM Research Participant Registry, neurologists in the St. Louis area, and advertisements in the newsletter of the Greater St. Louis Chapter American Parkinson Disease Association. All participants were diagnosed with idiopathic PD using published clinical diagnostic criteria,30 were classified as Hoehn and Yahr stages I to IV,31 and experienced

Participant characteristics

Sixty-two individuals with idiopathic PD (30 control, 32 tango) enrolled in this study, were randomized to treatment groups, and completed the baseline evaluation. Fifty-two participants (26 control, 26 tango) completed the 3-month evaluation and were included in the current analysis (fig 1). Sample characteristics are presented in table 1. There were no differences between the tango and control groups at baseline with regards to sex, age, duration and severity of PD, or depressive symptoms

Discussion

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a community-based Argentine tango dance program on activity participation among individuals with PD. Volunteers with PD were randomized to participate in 12 months of Argentine tango classes (tango group) or to continue their daily routine as usual (control group). As hypothesized, participants in the tango group reported increased activity participation over the course of the study. Moreover, they recovered a significant proportion of the

Conclusions

We found that engagement in a community-based Argentine tango dance class was associated with increased activity participation among individuals with PD. To our knowledge, this is the first study to test the effect of any intervention on activity participation in this population. Rehabilitation research in PD primarily focuses on motor impairment and physical disability, measuring outcomes at the level of functional mobility and self-care ADL. Given its importance for health and well-being,14,

Acknowledgments

We thank Ruth Porter, DPT, and John Michael Rotello for tango instruction. We also thank Vanessa Heil-Chapdelaine, DPT for assistance with data management.

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    • Cited by (0)

    Supported by the National Institutes of Health (grant no. NIH UL1 TR000448); the Parkinson's Disease Foundation; the Greater St. Louis American Parkinson Disease Association (APDA); and the APDA Center for Advanced Parkinson's Disease Research at Washington University in St. Louis.

    No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit on the authors or on any organization with which the authors are associated.

    Clinical Trial Registration No.: CT0138856.

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    Copyright © 2013 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.