Motivation of elderly with Parkinson's disease submitted to functional training, aerobic exercise and exergame

It is recommended that patients with Parkinsons disease (PD) perform physical exercise throughout their lives. Exercise should slow disease progression and motivate the patient. Objective: Verify and compare the motivation of elderly with PD submitted to functional training, stationary bicycle exercise and exergame. Method: A randomized clinical trial was developed at a referral center. Group 1 (G1) performed functional training, group 2 (G2) trained with stationary bicycle and group 3 (G3) played on Xbox 360 with Kinect sensor. At the end of training, an interview was conducted by a single non-blind investigator to evaluate patient motivation about therapeutic exercise programs they were submitted to. For each question there were four answers options: I was not motivated, I was not very motivated, I was motivated and I was very motivated. The variables were summarized in median and interquartile range and in absolute and relative frequencies. The Pearson Chi-square test was used for statistical inference. The level of significance was 5% (p <0.05). Fifty-three older people with PD have participated. Results: Many participants have reported that exercise (G1: 72%, G2: 53%, G3: 44%) and the physiotherapist (G1: 83%, G2: 76%, G3: 94%) were very motivating. Only two participants of G2 rated exercise as not very motivating. However, no significant difference was found between the three groups. Conclusion: Older individuals with PD considered functional training, bicycle exercise and exergame as motivating modalities of physical exercise.