The Repository @ St. Cloud State

Open Access Knowledge and Scholarship

Date of Award

6-2016

Culminating Project Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Exercise Science: M.S.

Department

Kinesiology

College

School of Health and Human Services

First Advisor

David Bacharach

Second Advisor

Glenn Street

Third Advisor

David Robinson

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Keywords and Subject Headings

Parkinson's disease, Parkinson's, Parkinson, Delphi, exercise

Abstract

It is largely accepted that exercise results in short-term benefits that have a positive effect on activities of daily living and quality of life. Similarly, there is growing evidence that exercise results in long-term benefits36,42-44,48,63,67,69,71. Despite the growing awareness of benefits of incorporating exercise as a part of therapy, there is little consensus on ideal dosages and types of exercise needed to target the wide range of symptoms that occur with Parkinson’s26. The purposes of this study were to identify types of exercise people with Parkinson’s have used for symptom management and to determine which types they have found most beneficial in relieving the symptoms of Parkinson’s. The results will help future researchers use resources efficiently by identifying interventions with high benefit potential that avoid barriers and directing future research away from areas with low benefit potential. The 10 most common types of exercise identified though this modified Delphi study were walking, cycling, yardwork, Static Exercises, resistance training, stretching, Slow Moving Exercises, dancing, Physical Therapy, and Speech Therapy. This list provides some direction for future research by identifying common types of exercise that people with Parkinson’s are willing and physically able to do at some point throughout the course of their disease. Investing future resources to identify better intervention strategies for any of these types of exercise may be warranted since innovations could influence a large percentage of the Parkinson’s community. Once the ten most common types of exercise were identified, subjects determined which types they have found most beneficial in relieving the symptoms of Parkinson’s. Results identified walking, stretching, resistance training, and cycling as relatively high ranked types of exercise. Therefore, all 10 types of exercise warrant future research but walking, stretching, resistance training, and cycling may provide additional benefits from the investment of future resources.

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