Background/Aims: We investigated the relationship between problems in daily living such as falls and the practice of home exercises in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) in Japan, to show the requirements for their effective and sustainable home exercises.
Methods: An anonymous questionnaire was sent by mail to 159 PD patients who were members of the Miyagi Prefecture Branch of the Japan Parkinson’s Disease Association. The questionnaire included questions on PD symptoms, chief complaints, history of falls, use of the nursing care insurance program, and performance of exercise therapy.
Findings: The questionnaire response rate was 62.3%. Falls had been experienced by 38 subjects (44.2%) during the month before the survey and by 52 (60.5%) during the 6 months before the survey. More than half (52.3%) of subjects had never undergone exercise therapy at a medical institution, and those who continued to undergo exercise therapy accounted for only 12.1% of all subjects. Thirty-four subjects (38.4%) did not undergo exercise therapy on a regular basis in any setting.
Conclusion: To prevent a decrease in activity due to disuse muscular atrophy, it is important to establish more effective home exercises for home-care PD patients so that they can do these exercises on a regular basis.
（在宅パーキンソン病患者を対象に、生活場面における転倒、ホームエクササイズの実施状況について調査を行った。アンケート回収率は62.3%であった。調査時点から1か月以内の転倒経験者は44.2%、過去半年では60.5%であった。ホームエクササイズも通院での運動療法も行っていない対象者が38.4%存在した。）
65:55-64
Hideyuki NAKAE, Hitoshi TSUSHIMA
