Physical Therapy Interventions for Parkinson Disease

This paper highlights the findings and application of Cochrane reviews and other evidence pertinent to the practice of physical therapy. The Cochrane Library is a respected source of reliable evidence related to health care. Cochrane systematic reviews explore the evidence for and against the effectiveness of appropriate interventions-medications, surgery, education, nutrition, exercise-and the evidence for and against the use of diagnostic tests for specific conditions. Cochrane reviews are designed to facilitate the decisions of clinicians, patients, and others in health care by providing a careful review and interpretation of research studies published in the scientific literature. Each article in this PTJ series summarizes a Cochrane review or other scientific evidence on a single topic and presents clinical scenarios based on real patients or programs to illustrate how the results of the review can be employed to directly inform clinical decisions. This paper is focused on an adult patient with relatively early Parkinson disease. Can physical therapy intervention strategies improve his physical functioning and assist him in reaching his goal of engaging in an exercise program to prevent decline associate with progressive Parkinson disease?