%0 Journal Article
%T High
%A Ailish O¡¯Callaghan
%A Kathryn L Weston
%A Lloyd L Oates
%A Marguerite Harvey
%A Richard Davidson
%A Richard W Walker
%A William K Gray
%J Clinical Rehabilitation
%@ 1477-0873
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0269215518815221
%X To investigate whether people with Parkinson¡¯s disease can exercise at a high-intensity across a 12-week intervention and to assess the impact of the intervention on cardiorespiratory fitness. This is a randomized, controlled, feasibility study with waiting list control. Assessors were blinded to group allocation. The intervention took place at an exercise centre and assessments at a district general hospital. This study included 20 people with idiopathic Parkinson¡¯s disease. A total of 36 exercise sessions over 12£¿weeks, with each session lasting ~45£¿minutes, were conducted. The main measures were maximal heart rates achieved during exercise, recruitment rate, attendance, drop-out, change in peak oxygen consumption, cardiac output, cognitive function and quality of life. The study was considered technically feasible if participants achieved £¿85% of maximal heart rate during exercise. There were 12 male and 8 female participants; they had a mean age of 68.5£¿years (standard deviation 6.825). Two participants were of Hoehn and Yahr stage I, 11 stage II and 7 stage III. In all, 17 participants completed the intervention. The median (interquartile range) proportion of repetitions delivered across the intervention which met our high-intensity criterion was 80% (67% to 84%). Mean peak heart rate was 88.8% of maximal. Peak oxygen consumption increased by 2.8£¿mL£¿kg£¿1£¿min£¿1 in the intervention group and 1.5£¿mL£¿kg£¿1£¿min£¿1 in the control group after 12£¿weeks of exercise. We estimate that a fully powered randomized controlled trial would require 30 participants per group. High-intensity interval exercise is feasible in people with Parkinson¡¯s disease. Improvements in cardiorespiratory function are promising
%K Parkinson¡¯s disease
%K high-intensity interval training
%K physiotherapy
%K exercise
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0269215518815221