The Role of Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation in Improving Balance in Parkinson Disease

PNF for Gait Improvement in PD Patients

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a kind of neurogenerative disorder associated with chronic motor disorders and non-motor symptoms caused by the loss of dopaminergic neurons. Current therapies improve motor symptoms but are related to long-term undesired effects. Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) has been gaining significant popularity as a form of physical therapy to improve muscle strength, flexibility, and coordination in patients with PD. This systematic review has been conducted to determine the effectiveness of PNF in enhancing the ability to balance in people with PD. A thorough search was done in Google Scholar, PEDro, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and Web of Science for articles published from 2010 to 2024. The current research has included patients with PD in rehabilitation; however, non-English articles and open-access materials unavailable on websites have been excluded. Five RCTs with 16 to 60 participants were identified. The overview of the studies found that the inclusion of PNF into the rehabilitation programs had more improvement seen in balance, mainly at the Berg Balance Scale (BBS). The evidence suggested that PNF added to better balance and functional outcomes for people with PD despite the methodological variation. However, some biases were related to blinding and confounding factors. Such limitations should be addressed in future research through standardization of outcome measures and optimization of PNF protocols for clinical populations.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.59564/amrj/02.02/029