The Effect of Eye Exercises in Parkinson's Disease

September 10, 2026 updated by: Pardis Specialized Wellness Institute

The Effect of Eye Exercises on Balance, Functional Mobility and Fall-Related Concern in Patients With Parkinson's Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Parkinson's disease is commonly associated with impaired gait, postural instability, reduced physical function, and increased concern about falling, all of which contribute substantially to disability and reduced quality of life. Exercise-based rehabilitation is increasingly recommended as a core non-pharmacological strategy for improving mobility and balance in people with Parkinson's disease. In parallel, recent clinical and neurorehabilitation research suggests that eye-movement and gaze-stabilization training may influence postural control, visuomotor integration, and movement performance in neurological disorders, including Parkinson's disease. This randomized controlled trial will evaluate whether a supervised in-center eye-exercise program can improve dynamic balance, functional mobility, gait performance, and fall-related concern in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Study Overview

Status

Enrolling by invitation

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Parkinson's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized not only by tremor and bradykinesia, but also by impaired gait, postural instability, reduced turning ability, slowed mobility, and increased fear of falling. These impairments are major contributors to functional limitation, reduced independence, and decreased quality of life in people with Parkinson's disease. Recent systematic reviews and network meta-analyses have demonstrated that exercise interventions can improve physical function, balance, gait performance, and mobility-related outcomes in this population. However, balance impairment and falls remain highly prevalent despite conventional rehabilitation approaches, highlighting the need for additional targeted non-pharmacological interventions.

Visual and oculomotor dysfunction are increasingly recognized as clinically relevant features of Parkinson's disease. Abnormalities in saccadic eye movements, smooth pursuit, gaze stabilization, and visuomotor control have been reported in patients with Parkinson's disease and may contribute to impaired postural control, gait dysfunction, and difficulties with movement coordination. Recent studies in neurorehabilitation and eye-movement research suggest that eye exercises and visually guided training may positively influence balance control, mobility, and motor-related performance by enhancing sensory integration and visuomotor coordination.

Emerging rehabilitation studies have reported promising effects of structured eye-movement interventions on dynamic balance, walking performance, and functional mobility in individuals with Parkinson's disease. In addition, recent advances in eye-tracking and oculomotor assessment research further support the potential therapeutic relevance of visually guided interventions in Parkinson's disease rehabilitation. Nevertheless, high-quality randomized controlled trials investigating supervised eye-exercise programs in clinical settings remain limited.

Therefore, the present study will investigate the effects of a structured supervised in-center eye-exercise program on physical function, dynamic balance, and fall-related concern in patients with Parkinson's disease. The intervention will be delivered under direct supervision in a controlled rehabilitation/clinic setting. By focusing on clinically meaningful functional outcomes, this trial aims to determine whether supervised eye exercises may represent a practical and effective adjunct rehabilitation strategy for improving mobility- and balance-related outcomes in people with Parkinson's disease.

All functional assessments will be performed at approximately the same time of day and in the participant's usual "ON" medication state, preferably 1-2 hours after antiparkinsonian medication intake, where feasible. Medication timing will be recorded at each assessment.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

68

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Iran
      • Isfahan, Iran
        • Pardis specialized wellness institute

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adults aged 18-80 years with clinically diagnosed idiopathic Parkinson's disease;
  • Hoehn and Yahr stage 1-3;
  • Stable antiparkinsonian medication regimen for at least 4 weeks before enrollment;
  • Able to stand unaided and walk independently with or without an assistive device;
  • Adequate corrected vision to perform eye-exercise tasks;
  • Able to understand and follow simple exercise instructions;
  • Able to attend supervised in-center sessions three times per week for 8 weeks;
  • Able to provide written informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Unstable cardiovascular, orthopedic, vestibular, or neurological condition interfering with safe participation;
  • Active infection or acute medical illness;
  • Severe uncorrected visual impairment preventing participation in eye-exercise tasks;
  • Recent myocardial infarction or stroke within the past 3 months;
  • Change in antiparkinsonian medication during the 4 weeks before enrollment or planned medication change during the intervention period;
  • Severe dizziness, uncontrolled vertigo, or other condition that may be worsened by eye-head coordination exercises;
  • Any other condition judged by the study physician to make participation unsafe.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Supervised In-Center Eye Exercise Group
Participants will receive a structured eye-exercise program designed to train oculomotor control, gaze stability, and eye-head coordination. The program will be delivered face-to-face in the center during supervised sessions. Each session will last approximately 30 to 45 minutes, 3 sessions per week for 8 weeks.
Behavioral: Supervised In-Center Eye Exercises
The participants in the study group will perform the eye-exercise program in a standardized seated position under supervision by trained study personnel in a rehabilitation/clinic setting. The exercises will be administered face-to-face and will include progressive visual fixation, smooth pursuit, saccadic eye movements, convergence/divergence, gaze stabilization, and combined eye-head coordination tasks. Progression will be based on increases in movement speed, number of repetitions, task complexity, and participant tolerance, while maintaining the standardized seated position and ensuring safety throughout the intervention.
No Intervention: Control group
Participants allocated to the control arm will receive standard neurological care and routine advice to maintain their usual daily activities. They will not receive the structured eye-exercise program during the intervention period.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in dynamic balance
Time Frame: Baseline and 8 weeks
Dynamic balance will be assessed using the Mini-BESTest total score. The Mini-BESTest evaluates anticipatory postural adjustments, reactive postural control, sensory orientation, and dynamic gait. Higher scores indicate better dynamic balance and postural control.
Baseline and 8 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in fall-related concern
Time Frame: Baseline and 8 weeks
Assessed with the Falls Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I). Higher scores indicate greater concern about falling.
Baseline and 8 weeks
Change in gait speed
Time Frame: Baseline and 8 weeks
Assessed with the 10-Meter Walk Test. Faster walking speed indicates better gait performance.
Baseline and 8 weeks
Change in functional mobility
Time Frame: Baseline and 8 weeks
Assessed with the Timed Up and Go test. Shorter completion times indicate better functional mobility.
Baseline and 8 weeks
Change in walking endurance
Time Frame: Baseline and 8 weeks
Assessed with the 6-Minute Walk Test. Greater distance indicates better walking endurance and physical function.
Baseline and 8 weeks
Number of participants with adverse events during the intervention period
Time Frame: Baseline and 8 weeks
Adverse events will include dizziness, nausea, headache, eye strain, worsening balance, near-falls, falls, musculoskeletal discomfort, or any event requiring session termination or medical evaluation.
Baseline and 8 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Pardis Specialized Wellness Institute

Investigators

  • Study Director: Mohammad Ali Tabibi, Dr, Pardis specialized wellness institute

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

May 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

October 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

October 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 6, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 6, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

April 13, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

September 15, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 10, 2026

Last Verified

September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • PA26PKD-2-01

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

De-identified individual participant data underlying the published results will be made available upon reasonable request to qualified researchers after publication of the main article.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

The data will be available after the paper is published. No end date.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Researchers must submit a methodologically sound proposal. Requests will be reviewed by the principal investigator, and data will be shared after approval and, if required, a data-sharing agreement.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • SAP

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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