OBJECTIVES: Parkinson disease is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases. The aim of the study was to examine the specific symptoms in Parkinson disease between regularly exercising and non-exercising patients.

METHODS: The study was conducted in 2015 with the MDS-UPDRS (Movement Disorder Society– sponsored revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale) among 20 people (11 females and 9 males), suffering from Parkinson disease. Data were collected from a Parkinson’s Patients Association in Pécs, Hungary. The data were analysed by descriptive statistics (mean calculation, standard deviation) using the Mann Whitney and Fisher exact test.

RESULTS: According to socio-demographic data, the average age was 69 years. The youngest patient was 41 years old and the oldest one was 89 years old. Parkinson's disease was diagnosed on average 10 years ago among the examined people. For regularly exercising patients, the scores were significantly lower (p<0.001). When comparing the results of motor symptoms of daily life, the case group achieved significantly better results (p=0.002). Patients with regular exercise were also better at postural instability (p=0.001). Based on the results of depression, there was no significant difference between the two groups (p=0.656).In walking, balance, handwriting, and dressing we found significant differences between the exercising and non-exercising groups (p=0.570) (p=0.020) (p=0.030). Those patients who regularly did exercises had postural instability problems at lower percentage than those who did no regular exercises (p=0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: We have concluded that the participants of this study who do regular exercises are in better general condition than those who do not do regular exercises. The positive effect of physical activity was also confirmed among our patients, which supports the indispensability of physical exercise in patients with Parkinson's disease.