Introduction: People with Parkinson’s Disease (PwPD) and an impaired respiratory profile show a lower walking ability. Still, it is unknown if there is a relationship between walking ability and respiratory function that can be used to predict the latter. This cross-sectional study evaluated the relationship between walking ability and respiratory function in PwPD.Methods: Seventeen older PwPD, between 60 and 80 years old were asked to perform a 10-m walking test at self-selected, fast speed, and respiratory tests and these variables analyzed by an multiple linear regression.Results: The respiratory profile revealed that 44% of the patients were restrictive, 33% were obstructive, and 22% were mixed. 73% of the PwPD presented a low lung capacity, as demonstrated by the forced expiratory volume in 1 s divided by the forced vital capacity (FEV1/FVC). Multiple linear regression demonstrated that self-selected walking speed explained 53 and 58% (p = 0.027 and p = 0.016) of the variation in maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressures, respectively. The fast walking speed explained 62 and 66% (p = 0.008 and p = 0.005) of the maximal inspiratory and expiratory pressure variation, respectively. Furthermore, the locomotor rehabilitation index explained 39% (p = 0.022) of the variance in the FEV1/FVC.Conclusion: These results suggest that walking ability, particularly at self-selected and fast speeds, is a suitable screening parameter for pulmonary impairments in PwPD. Furthermore, the locomotor rehabilitation index indicates the ability to expire rapidly as a proportion of forced vital capacity in PwPD. Thus, the walking ability test can be an easily applicable and low-cost biomarker for assessing respiratory changes in PwPD.

Introdução: A doença de Parkinson (DP) é caracterizada por distúrbios motores, aumentando risco de quedas e inatividade física. Objetivo: Analisar perfil antropométrico e composição corporal, antes e após um programa de treinamento de caminhada nórdica (CN) e caminhada livre (CL). Métodos: Os 33 sujeitos foram randomizados em dois grupos experimentais: CL (n = 16) e CN (n = 17) para realização das 12 sessões de treinamento. Resultados: Relação cintura/quadril reduziu (2,2%, p = 0,022) para o CL. O somatório total das dobras cutâneas reduziu em 4,3% no grupo CN (p = 0,012), e 4,7% no grupo CL (p = 0,012), sem diferença entre os grupos. O período de treinamento não promoveu alterações significativas na massa corporal (p = 0,808), IMC (p = 0,392), nas massas magra (p = 0,834), gorda (p = 0,721) e óssea (p = 0,348), bem como nos percentuais de gordura (p = 0,887). Conclusão: O treinamento promoveu melhora antropométrica efetiva para ambos os grupos.

The world has been hit by a pandemic caused by the new coronavirus (COVID 19), which has resulted in government recommendations and measures including social isolation to reduce the spread of the disease. In view of these recommendations, there were drastic changes in lifestyle, impacting the physical and mental health of men and women. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the practice of physical activity, according to sex, in individuals with Parkinson’s disease in social isolation before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cross-sectional observational study, based on an online questionnaire validated for individuals with Parkinson’s disease PAFPA/COVID19, in which 156 individuals of both sexes and degrees of the disease (I to V) were allocated, with a mean age of 63.70 ± 11.00 years and from different Brazilian regions. Chi-square, Fisher’s exact and binary logistic regression tests were used. It is observed that 92% of the participants were in social isolation, which caused negative effects on the level of physical activity of the participants, even though most of them doing physical activity online. In addition, it was found that those who participated in specific exercise programs for Parkinson’s disease, are less likely to be insufficiently active, as well as individuals who receive online guidance. Although social isolation is a necessary measure to combat COVID-19, the results show a negative effect of this social isolation on the parameters of physical activity in this population in different regions of Brazil. This suggests that better strategies for health promotion in order to increase levels of physical activity at home are necessary to reduce the physical inactivity lifestyle during the pandemic, in order to prevent diseases associated with social isolation and physical inactivity.

The study aimed to evaluate the impairment of locomotion capacity in people with Parkinson's disease (PwP) using the 6-Minute Walk Test (6MWT), classify performance against predicted distance, and investigate the association between the Locomotion Performance Classification (LPC) (A1, A2, and A3) with the stages between 1 to 4 of the disease, according to the Hoehn & Yahr (H&Y) scale. 32 individuals in stages 1 to 4 of the disease participated. We used Pearson's test in Jamovi software to correlate clinical and performance variables. The performance in the 6MWT was higher than predicted (465m covered; 439m predicted). The stages of the disease and the proposed LPC showed a moderate inverse correlation, r= -0.521; p= 0.002.