• Ghorayeb JH
• Grigoropoulos G
• George E
• Arbit E
• Wu H

• Exercise Therapy
• Low Back Pain / therapy
• Open Access Document
• Parkinson Disease / complications

People with Parkinson’s disease (PD) frequently experience low back pain (LBP). LBP often causes significant disability and reduced quality of life. A body of literature exists supporting the utility of exercise for the management of LBP in the general population. However, no such guideline exists to aid clinicians in exercise prescription for the management of LBP for individuals with PD. This descriptive literature review summarizes the current knowledge with respect to the mechanism and utility of physical exercise (PE) interventions, issues related to exercise prescription, the influence of patient expectations on exercise adherence and outcomes, and the process of encouraging behavior modification in the context of managing LBP in individuals with PD. The effects of the interventions prescribed may vary depending on content-related factors (i.e., type of exercises, dosage, frequency, stage of disease progression, etc.) and contextual factors (i.e., treatment setting, access to organized programs, etc.). Patient expectations also significantly influence adherence to, and outcomes of, PE. Treatment goals and timing are also important as they relate to the amount and type of PE to be prescribed within each stage of the disease and the expectation of outcomes of both clinicians and patients, respectively. Despite the need for more quantitative and qualitative investigations to further clarify the formulation and dosage of PE for patients with PD who experience LBP, this article outlines tailored PE prescription recommendations in this context based on the current body of knowledge available at this time.

Author keywords: Parkinson’s disease; low back pain; exercise

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