Effect of Physical Activity on the Course of Parkinson's Disease in Patients With Bilateral DBS-STN Stimulation. (EPA-DBS)

October 1, 2026 updated by: Medical University of Warsaw

Effect of Physical Activity on the Course of Parkinson's Disease in Patients With Bilateral DBS-STN Stimulation - a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Parkinson's disease is a common, progressive neurodegenerative disorder. The degeneration of dopaminergic neurons is associated with characteristic clinical symptoms such as tremor, rigidity, slowness of movement (bradykinesia) and postural instability. Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (DBS-STN) is a recognized and widely used method of treating advanced stages of Parkinson's disease. It improves clinical symptoms such as tremor, rigidity and slowness of movement (bradykinesia). This method has limited application for late motor and non-motor symptoms such as: akinesia, postural instability, gait, including the phenomenon of "freezing", recurrent falls, balance and dysarthria. These symptoms reduce the quality of life of patients and make them dependent on their caregivers. There is a clear need to develop additional forms of therapy that complement deep brain stimulation in controlling late motor and non-motor symptoms.

Physical activity is a commonly used and recommended form of therapy for patients with Parkinson's disease and a complement to pharmacological therapy, improving gait, balance and quality of life. However, there are no clear recommendations including patients after implantation of DBS-STN stimulators to the group undergoing physiotherapy. To this day, only one clinical trial has been registered assessing the effect of physiotherapy on balance and gait in patients with DBS-STN.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

102

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

Study Locations

  • Poland
      • Warsaw, Poland, 03-242
        • Recruiting
        • Department of Neurology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Bródnowski Mazovian Hospital
        • Contact:

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

50 years to 70 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients diagnosed with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (ICD-10:G20).
  • Patients qualified for advanced therapies using DBS-STN.
  • Grade II-IV on the Hoehn & Yahr scale.
  • Age 50-70.
  • Consent to participate in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients diagnosed with atypical parkinsonism.
  • Patients not eligible for advanced therapies with DBS-STN.
  • Hoehn & Yahr Grade I and V.
  • Age <50 and >70
  • Patients diagnosed with dementia syndrome (MMSE < 24/30).
  • Diseases of the osteoarticular system and muscles that make it impossible to undergo rehabilitation.
  • Severe kidney, liver and heart failure.
  • Active malignancy or malignancy diagnosed and treated within 3 years prior to the study.

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: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Sham Comparator: Control group
Behavioral: Education about physiotherapy

Direct education of the patient in the field of self-care, counseling and instruction on independent exercise, use of medical equipment or devices, also at home.
Experimental: Research group
Procedure: Physiotherapy

Assessment of the patient's functional status: 10 Meter Walk (10 MW) Test, Tinetti Test, New Freezing of Gait Questionnaire (NFOG-Q), History of Falling Questionaire, Timed up and go (TUG), TUG - countdown from 100 to 80, TUG - cup half-filled with water carried in the right and left hand, TST - 10 s standing in a tandem position, 180 Tandem Pivot Test, TWT - Tandem Walking Test, Functional Reach test, Functional strength test, TEST Six Minute Walk (6MWT), Berg Balance Scale, Treadmill Gait Analysis, Platform Stabilometry Test.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Movement Disorder Society-sponsored revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS), Part III: Motor Examination
Time Frame: 2 years

Change in the full Movement Disorder Society-sponsored revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS), Part III: Motor Examination, score in the full ON medication/DBS state from baseline to study completion, comparing the control and study groups, with subsequent study time points also reported. Part III assesses the severity of motor signs of Parkinson's disease. The total score ranges from 0 to 132, with 0 indicating no motor impairment and higher scores indicating greater motor impairment (i.e., a worse outcome).
2 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Tinetti Performance-Oriented Mobility Assessment (POMA)
Time Frame: 2 years

Change in the full Tinetti Performance-Oriented Mobility Assessment (POMA), also known as the Tinetti Mobility Test, total score in the ON medication/DBS state before and after study completion, comparing the control and research groups, with subsequent study time points also reported. The POMA assesses balance and gait/mobility. The total score ranges from 0 to 28 points (balance: 0-16; gait: 0-12), with higher scores indicating better mobility, gait, and balance function (i.e., a better outcome).
2 years
New Freezing of Gait Questionnaire (NFOG-Q)
Time Frame: 2 years

Change in the full New Freezing of Gait Questionnaire (NFOG-Q) total score in the ON medication/DBS state before and after study completion, comparing the control and research groups, with subsequent study time points also reported. The NFOG-Q is a patient-reported measure assessing the severity of freezing of gait and its impact on daily life in people with Parkinson's disease. The total score ranges from 0 to 28 points, with 0 indicating no freezing of gait and higher scores indicating greater severity and impact of freezing of gait (i.e., a worse outcome).
2 years
Berg Balance Scale (BBS)
Time Frame: 2 years

Change in the full Berg Balance Scale (BBS) total score in the ON medication/DBS state before and after study completion, comparing the control and research groups, with subsequent study time points also reported. The BBS is a 14-item performance-based measure of functional balance. Each item is scored from 0 to 4, giving a total score ranging from 0 to 56 points, with higher scores indicating better balance and functional performance (i.e., a better outcome).
2 years
Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA)
Time Frame: 2 years

Change in the full Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) total score in the ON medication/DBS state before and after study completion, comparing the control and research groups, with subsequent study time points also reported. The MoCA is a cognitive screening assessment of multiple cognitive domains, including executive function, visuospatial abilities, attention, memory, language, and orientation. The total score ranges from 0 to 30 points, with higher scores indicating better cognitive performance (i.e., a better outcome).
2 years

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Medical University of Warsaw

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)

September 5, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

September 5, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

September 5, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 17, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 17, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

September 24, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

October 6, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 1, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2024/EL/5418

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

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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