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. 2022 Oct 31;8:146. doi: 10.1038/s41531-022-00418-4

Table 1.

Characteristics of studies included in this meta-analysis.

Study Country Sample size Age(y) Stage of disease Disease duration (y) Intervention Characteristics of Interventions Outcome measures
Sage (2009) NR

IG = 13

CG = 15

IG: 65.1 (9.3)

CG: 68.6 (8.7)

UPDRS,

IG: 22.2 (8.1)

CG: 21.8 (7.2)

IG: 3.2 (2.9)

CG: 2.5 (2.2)

IG: aerobic intervention

CG: regular activity

 30 min/session, 60–75% HRmax, two sessions per week for 10–12 weeks UPDRS-III, TUG, Gait
Cannning (2012) Australia

IG = 10

CG = 10

IG: 60.7 (5.9)

CG: 62.9 (9.9)

 Total: H&Y stage 1–3

IG: 6.1 (4.0)

CG: 5.2 (4.1)

IG: treadmill walking

CG: usual care

 20-40 min/session, 60–80% of the average 6-min walk test speed, four sessions per week for 6 weeks UPDRS-III, 6MWT, PDQ-39
Arfa-Fatollahkhani (2019) Iran

IG = 11

CG = 9

IG: 60.63 (9.36)

CG: 61.55 (8.57)

 Total: H&Y stage 1.5–2.5

IG: 8.89 (5.14)

CG: 8.50 (6.34)

IG: treadmill walking

CG: usual care

 30 min/session, 60%HRmax, two sessions per week for 10 weeks TUG, 6MWT
Solla (2019) Italy

IG = 10

CG = 10

IG: 67.8 (5.9)

CG: 67.1 (6.3)

H&Y, IG: 2.1 (0.6)

CG: 2.3 (0.4)

IG: 4.4 (4.5)

CG: 5.0 (2.9)

IG: dance

CG: usual care

 90 min/session, two sessions per week for 12 weeks UPDRS-III, 6MWT, BBS, TUG, Gait
Wan (2021) China

IG = 20

CG = 20

IG: 64.95 (7.83)

CG: 67.03 (7.47)

 Total: H&Y stage 1–4

IG: 3.63 (1.52)

CG: 3.25 (1.7)

IG: Qigong

CG: regular medication

 60 min/session, 70–80% HRmax, four sessions per week for 12 weeks TUG, Gait
Hashimoto (2015) Japan

IG = 15

CG = 14

IG: 67.9 (7.0)

CG: 69.7 (4.0)

UPDRS,

IG: 42.7 (13.9)

CG: 33.4 (14.2)

IG: 6.3 (4.6)

CG: 7.8 (6.2)

IG: dance

CG: normal lives

 60 min/session, one session per week for 12 weeks BBS, TUG
Lee (2018) Korea

IG = 25

CG = 16

IG: 65.8 (7.2)

CG: 65.7 (6.4)

 Total: H&Y stage 1–3

IG: 4.5 (3.3)

CG: 4.4 (3.0)

IG: dance

CG: normal lives

 60 min/session, 60–75% HRmax, two sessions per week for 8 weeks UPDRS-III, BBS
Hackney (2009) US

IG-1 = 14

IG-2 = 17

CG = 17

IG-1: 68.2 (1.4)

IG-2: 66.8 (2.4)

CG: 66.5 (2.8)

 Total: H&Y stage 1–4

IG-1: 6.9 (1.3)

IG-2: 9.2 (1.5)

CG: 5.9 (1.0)

IG-1: tango

IG-2: waltz/foxtrot

CG: no intervention

 60 min/session, 60–75% HRR, two sessions per week, completing 20 sessions within 13 weeks

UPDRS-III, BBS

TUG, 6MWT, Gait
Altmann (2016) US

IG = 11

CG = 10

IG: 62.8 (8.6)

CG: 67.8 (9.8)

 Total: H&Y stage 1–3 NR

IG: aerobic exercise

CG: normal activities

 20–45 min/session, 50–75% HRR, three sessions per week for 16 weeks UPDRS-III
Cugusi (2015) Italy

IG = 10

CG = 10

IG: 68.1 (8.7)

CG: 66.6 (7.3)

 Total: H&Y stage 1–3

IG: 7.0 (2.0)

CG: 7.0 (4.0)

IG: walking

CG: conventional care

 60 min/session, 60–80% HRR, two sessions per week for 12 weeks UPDRS-III, BBS, TUG, 6MWT
Ganesan (2014) US

IG = 20

CG = 20

IG: 57.6(9.1)

CG: 59.1 (6.8)

 Total: H&Y stage 1–3

IG: 5.7 (3.9)

Cg: 5.5 (3.4)

IG: treadmill training

CG: only stable dosage

 30 min/session, four sessions per week for 4 weeks UPDRS-III, BBS
Schenkman (2017) US

IG-1 = 39

IG-2 = 42

CG: N = 38

IG-1: 64 (9)

IG-2: 63 (10)

CG: 64 (10)

 Total: H&Y stage 1–2 Total: <5

IG-1: treadmill exercise

IG-2: treadmill exercise

CG: wait-list control

IG-1: 40–50 min/session, 80–85% HRmax, four sessions per week for 24 weeks

IG-2: 40–50 min/session, 60–65% HRmax, four sessions per week for 24 weeks

 UPDRS-III
Cakit (2007) Turkey

IG = 21

CG = 10

 Total: 71.8 (6.4) Total: H&Y stage 2–3 Total: 5.58 (2.9)

IG: treadmill training

CG: no intervention

 30 ± 5 min/session, walking at the maximum speed, for 8 weeks BBS
Protas (2005) US

IG = 9

CG = 9

IG: 71.3(7.4)

CG: 73.7 (8.5)

 Total: H&Y stage 2–3

IG: 7.1 (5.1)

CG: 8.1 (4.4)

IG: walking

CG: no intervention

 60 min/session, walking at the fastest, self-selected speed, three sessions per week for 8 weeks Gait
Thaut (1996) US

IG = 11

CG = 11

IG: 74.0 (3.0)

CG: 71.0 (8.0)

IG: 2.6 (NR)

CG: 2.5 (NR)

IG: 5.4 (3.0)

CG: 8.5 (4.0)

IG: walking

CG: normal daily activities

 30 min/session, 60–120 steps/min, one session per week for 3 weeks BBS, Gait
van der Kolk (2019) Netherlands

IG = 65

CG = 11

IG: 59.3 (8.3)

CG: 59.4 (8.3)

Mild stage

Total: H&Y stage <2

IG: 15.1 (4.0)

CG: 16.1 (4.5)

IG: aerobic exercise

CG: active control group

 30–45 min/session, 50–80% HRmax, three sessions per week for 24 weeks UPDRS-III, TUG, 6MWT, PDQ-39
Nadeau (2014) Canada

IG-1 = 11

IG-2 = 12

CG = 11

IG-1: 60.1 (6.8)

IG-2: 64.0 (6.6)

CG: 64.3 (5.6)

IG-1: 1.95 (0.15)

IG-2: 1.92 (0.20)

CG: 1.86 (0.23)

 NR

IG-1: treadmill walking

IG-2: treadmill walking

CG: normal physical activity

 60 min/session, 60–80% VO2peak, three sessions per week for 24 weeks UPDRS-III, 6MWT, PDQ-39
Sacheli (2019) Canada

IG = 20

CG = 15

IG: 66.76 (5.98)

CG: 67.85 (8.50)

UPDRS,

IG: 23.00 (10.42)

CG: 26.77 (13.14)

IG: 3.91 (2.85)

CG: 5.17 (4.26)

IG: aerobic group

CG: control group

 40–60 min/session, 60–80% VO2max, three sessions per week for 12 weeks UPDRS-III, TUG
Li (2022) China

IG = 20

CG = 20

IG: 67.57 (3.95)

CG: 70.0 (5.59)

UPDRS,

IG: 25.05 (17.45)

CG: 26.79 (20.79)

IG: 6.93 (4.09)

CG: 7.76 (4.55)

IG: Wuqinxi Qigong exercise

CG: active control group

 90 min/session, 60–70% HRmax or 6–12 on Brog scale, two sessions per week for 24 weeks UPDRS-III, TUG, PDQ-39
Tollár (2019) Netherlands

IG = 25

CG = 24

IG: 70.6 (4.10)

CG: 67.5 (4.28)

H&Y, IG: 2.4 (0.51)

CG: 2.4 (0.51)

IG: 7.5 (2.16)

CG: 7.3 (2.21)

IG: cycling

CG: a wait-listed control

 60 min/session, 80% HRmax, five sessions per week for 5 weeks BBS, 6MWT

PD Parkinson’s disease, EG experimental group, IG control group, M male, NR no report, N number, H&Y Hoehn and Yahr, UPDRS unified Parkinson’s disease rating, UPDRS-III unified Parkinson’s disease rating scale part-III, TUG timed up and go test, BBS Berg balance scale, 6MWT 6-minute walking test; Data were presented as mean (standard deviation), HRmax maximum heart rate, HRR heart rate reserve, VO2peak peak oxygen uptake, VO2max maximal oxygen consumption.