Abstract
We tried different trigger movements on sitting up movement in two patients with Parkinsonism. Both patients were on stage IV according to Hoehn and Yahr's disability scale. Patient 1 was a 64 year-old male with Parkinson's disease. He had difficulty in sittig up, though he could walk. First the left shoulder joint was passively moved in a horizontal plane at left side lying position. Next the movement was performed active-assistively, then actively in the same position. After these movements the patient could sit up from the supine position. After the abduction movements of the right hip joint, he could sit up but the sitting up time was not shortened. Patient 2 was a 78 year-old female with Parkinsonism of unknown etiology. Before the exercise she could not sit up from side lying position. After the same abduction movements of the right hip joint as of patient 1, the patient could sit up from the side lying position. In parkinsonism both horizontal abduction of the shoulder and abduction of the hip are effective trigger movements for sitting up movement from the side lying position. It was suggested that there may be different trigger movements corresponding to patients' disabilities.
