Immediate impact of whole-body vibration on backward walking in individuals with Parkinson disease

• Published in: Physiotherapy theory and practice pp. 1 - 6
• Main Authors: Boddy, A. H., Barta, K., Flores, M. B., Sawyer, K. E., Perry, L. A., Campbell, A. H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 19.05.2025
• Subjects: Parkinson disease; whole-body vibration; backward walking
• ISSN: 0959-3985; 1532-5040; 1532-5040
• DOI: 10.1080/09593985.2025.2506545

Parkinson Disease (PD) is a progressive neurological disorder that can affect gait and balance. For individuals with PD, difficulty with posterior movement patterns often increases their risk of falls. This often further reduces their mobility due to fear of falling. Determine the immediate impact of performing partial squats using whole-body vibration (WBV) versus level surface on backward walking velocity in individuals with PD. Twenty-six individuals with PD (Hoehn & Yahr I-IV, median age = 68.3, 13 females) participated in one session of squats on either WBV or level ground. Participants completed the 3-Meter Backward Walk Test (3MBWT) prior to and immediately following the intervention. Thirteen participants performed partial ("mini") squats using WBV on a Galileo® S35 vibration platform in five 60-s sessions with a 1 min seated rest break in between sessions for a total of 10 min. The control group completed the same sequence on level ground without WBV. Results from the two-way mixed ANOVA indicated that the main effect of time was significant, with both control and intervention groups improving 3MBWT scores ( (1,24) = 4.388,  < .001). However, there was no statistically significant interaction between the intervention and time ( (1,24) < 0.001,  = .983) or the main effect of group ( (1,24) = 0.691,  = .414). Both the control and intervention groups yielded small effect sizes  = 0.26 (9.5% change) and  = 0.28 (10.8% change), respectively. In individuals with PD, performing partial squats led to small improvements in backwards walking velocity, but WBV did not provide additional benefits.