Passive Versus Active Music Therapy Parkinson's Disease

June 16, 2026 updated by: Christopher Ballmann, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Effects of Active Versus Passive Music Therapy on Functional Ability and Psychophysiological Responses to Goal-Directed Exercise in People With Parkinson's Disease

The purpose of this pilot study is to identify the effects of active versus passive music therapy on functional ability and psychophysiological responses to goal-directed exercise in people with Parkinson's disease.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Using a crossover counterbalanced approach, participants with idiopathic PD (n=28) will be recruited to complete 3 separate experimental visits each with a differing condition: 1) No music (control; CON), 2) PMT, 3) AMT. For each condition, participants will complete a battery of functional testing (sit-to-stand test; STS) and goal-based exercise (6-minute walk test; 6MWT) separated by 20-minutes of rest. Functional ability will be determined via biomechanical parameters (i.e. peak force, braking force, rate of force development) during the 5-time STS test. Exercise capacity (i.e. distance, average walking velocity) will be determined for goal-based exercise during the 6MWT. During each test, a medical grade smartwatch will record psychophysiological (i.e. heart rate, metabolic equivalents, electrodermal activity) responses. Furthermore, psychometric testing for motivation, enjoyment, psychological arousal, fatigue, and rating of perceived exertion will be conducted after each test attempt.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

28

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 Contact

  • Name: Christopher G Ballmann, PhD
  • Phone Number: 205-975-0613
  • Email: cgb0002@uab.edu

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Alabama
      • Birmingham, Alabama, United States, 35294
        • University of Alabama at Birmingham
        • Contact:
          • Christopher G Ballmann, PhD
          • Phone Number: 2059750613
          • Email: cgb0002@uab.edu
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Christopher G Ballmann, PhD
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Jane Allendorfer, PhD
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Alexandra Evancho, DPT

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:

  • Formal diagnosis of idiopathic PD
  • Hoen & Yahr Stage <III
  • Middle or old age onset of PD (at least 50 years of age)
  • The ability to ambulate without assistive devices
  • Stable medication regimen for four weeks prior to participation
  • No changes to treatment of PD in the last month.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Primary psychiatric disease (non-PD related)
  • Reports of falling in the last six weeks
  • Any reason a participant or their healthcare team believed their participation in the study could negatively impact their well-being.

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: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control
No music therapy
Experimental: Active music therapy
Music therapy with a licensed music therapist
Behavioral: Active music therapy
Structured music therapy with a licensed music therapist
Experimental: Passive music therapy
Listening to self-selected music
Behavioral: Passive music therapy
Listening to self-selected music

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Average time sit to stand
Time Frame: Week 1, Week 2
Time to complete 5 sit to stand test
Week 1, Week 2
Total walking distance accumulated in 6 minutes
Time Frame: Week 1, Week 2
Total distance in meters accumulated during a six minute walk test
Week 1, Week 2
Total motivation level
Time Frame: Week 1, Week 2
Motivation levels as assessed by a visual analog scale on 0 to 100 where 0 equals the absence of motivation and 100 indicates extremely motivated
Week 1, Week 2

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Collaborators

Rooted Music Therapy

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Christopher G Ballmann, PhD, University of Alabama at Birmingham

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 (Estimated)

August 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

August 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

August 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 16, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 16, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

June 22, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 22, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 16, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IRB-300016813
  • CEDHARS Pilot Grant (Other Grant/Funding Number: UAB Center for Engagement in Disability Health and Rehabilitation Sciences)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

All IPD that underlie results in a publication

IPD Sharing Time Frame

Beginning 1 year after publication with no end date

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • ICF

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.

Clinical Trials on Parkinson Disease (PD)

Clinical Trials on Active music therapy

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Turkmenistan

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Subscribe