Impacts of an Exercise Program and Motivational Telephone Counseling on Health-Related Quality of Life in People with Parkinson's Disease

Purpose The purpose of this study was to test the effects of group exercise and telephone counseling on physical and psychosocial health in people with Parkinson's disease (PD). Design This was a quasiexperimental study with a nonequivalent control group. Methods This study took place in Seoul, South Korea. Twenty-two and 20 subjects participated in the intervention and comparison groups, respectively. The intervention group performed group exercises twice a week and received motivational telephone counseling every 2 weeks for 12 weeks. Findings Significant effects of the intervention were found in overall health-related quality of life (HRQOL; p =.012) and in the following HRQOL dimensions: stigma (p =.026), social function (p =.003), cognition (p =.028), and communication (p =.014). No other variables such as activities of daily living, functional fitness, and depression exhibited statistically significant effects. Conclusion/Clinical Relevance These results indicate that group exercise with telephone counseling positively affects some aspects of HRQOL in PD patients.