Visualization of Rehabilitation Performed by Patients with Parkinson’s Disease

—As Preparation for the Creation of Standardized Care—

Abstract

[PURPOSE] To visualize the frequency and items of rehabilitation conducted by patients themselves at each stage of the Hoehn and Yahr Scale towards standardization of care for Parkinson’s disease. [METHOD] 252 responses to the questionnaire to members of the Hyogo Branch of the Japan Parkinson’s Disease Association were divided into two groups by the presence or absence of self-rehabilitation, and attributes and frequencies of self-rehabilitation were compared. Open-ended notes about the content of self-rehabilitation were analyzed by the text mining method, and the strength of the relationship between the twelve rehabilitation items and the Yahr stage of the patient doing the self-rehabilitation was visualized by figures. [RESULTS] 78.8% of the patients were performing self-rehabilitation. The Yahr stage of the self-rehabilitation performer was lower (p<0.01). The average frequency of rehabilitation was 4.5 days/week. At Yahr stage 1, the average frequency of rehabilitation was 5.3 days/week, which was the most frequent of all Yahr stages, while at Yahr stage 4 the average was 3.9 days/week, which was the least frequent of all Yahr stages. It was visualized that out of the rehabilitation items, [gymnastic exercises/radio gymnastic exercises], [calisthenics/bending and stretching], and [strolling/walking] are basic items that patients at all Yahr stages perform, and that in addition to these, [dance], [yoga], and [squatting] are performed by patients at Yahr stages 1-2, [Balancing exercises] and [taijiquan] are performed by patients at Yahr stages 2-3, while [Massage] is additionally performed by patients at Yahr stages 4. [DISCUSSION] As items of rehabilitation performed by patients have been visualized, it is considered necessary to verify the safety and effectiveness of these items and standardize them as care shared by patients and caregivers in the future.