Analysis of the effects of whole-body vibration in Parkinson’s disease – Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Because of discrepant published results, there is a need to systematically analyze the literature that has evaluated the effectiveness of harmonic (WBV) and randomized whole-body vibration (rWBV) in patients with PD. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of WBV/rWBV on motor symptoms, balance, gait and mobility in people with Parkinson’s disease. TYPE: meta-analysis LITERATURE SURVEY: Established databases PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane, Trip and PEDro, library of the Saarland University (SULB) and electronic library of journals (EZB) were scanned by using ‘Parkinson’ and ‘vibration’ as combined search terms, including publications from 1960 to November 2017. METHODOLOGY: First, data were extracted from the full-text version, including number of participants, severity of disease, medication status, study design, use of vibration treatment, duration of study, number of treatment sessions and trials per session, vibration frequency and amplitude, duration of trials and rest periods and pre- and post-test data. Qualitative analysis was performed by using the PEDro score. Standardized mean differences (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to verify the efficacy of WBV and rWBV on mobility, balance, gait and motor symptoms. SYNTHESIS: From 244 publications found in online databases, 17 eligible studies fulfilled eligibility criteria and were further analyzed qualitatively. Out of those, 7 studies attained moderate to high quality (mean PEDro score 4.6 points, standard deviation 2.9) and were then further analyzed quantitatively. A large variation, between no effects (SMD = .06, 95% CI = -.78 to .90) and weak effects (SMD = .46, 95% CI = -.51 to 1.43), was found for motor symptoms, balance, gait and mobility. CONCLUSIONS: There is no clear evidence of a PD symptom-reducing effect (motor symptoms, balance, gait and mobility) of whole-body vibration compared with respective control conditions. Only a few studies found significant group differences for mobility and motor symptoms. Therefore, the overall effects of vibration therapy on PD remain somewhat inconsistent. Further high-quality studies should determine the efficacy of WBV/rWBV. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.