---
title: "Efficacy of Brisk Walking in Parkinson's Disease"
nct_id: NCT04048291
overall_status: COMPLETED
phase: NA
sponsor: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
study_type: INTERVENTIONAL
primary_condition: Parkinson Disease
countries: Hong Kong
canonical_url: "https://parkinsonspathways.com/agent/trials/NCT04048291.md"
clinicaltrials_gov: "https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04048291"
ct_last_update_post_date: 2021-08-30
last_seen_at: "2026-05-12T06:52:14.985Z"
source: ClinicalTrials.gov (mirrored, no enrichment)
---
# Efficacy of Brisk Walking in Parkinson's Disease

**Official Title:** Efficacy of Brisk Walking on Improving Balance and Gait Performance, and Functional Mobility in Parkinson's Disease - a Randomized Controlled Trial

**NCT ID:** [NCT04048291](https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04048291)

## Key Facts

- **Status:** COMPLETED
- **Phase:** NA
- **Study Type:** INTERVENTIONAL
- **Target Enrollment:** 80
- **Lead Sponsor:** The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- **Conditions:** Parkinson Disease
- **Start Date:** 2018-10-15
- **Completion Date:** 2020-02-28
- **CT.gov Last Update:** 2021-08-30

## Brief Summary

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neuro-degenerative disease in older people. Falls are common among people PD with the incidence rate up to 70% and have strong associations with the severity of the disease, balance impairment, and freezing of gait.The abnormal gait characteristics include reduction in stride length, gait speed and arm swing, and increase in cadence. Gait training, balance training, aerobic training, Tai chi and dance training are common types of physical rehabilitation for PD. Brisk walking is a way of walking with a pace faster than normal, and it can improve dynamic balance for senior men and balance function for chronic stroke clients.

Brisk walking also promotes cardiopulmonary fitness and walking endurance in elderly women, healthy middle-age and older adults, active elderly men and chronic stroke clients. Our previous pilot randomized controlled trial on the effects of a 6-week home-based brisk walking program indicates that it is feasible and safe for the early PD population with improved walking capacity measured by 6-minute walk distance. The positive effects could carry over to 6 weeks after treatment completion. Up-to-date, the short- and long-term effects of brisk walking in improving balance and gait performance, and functional capacity in people with PD have not yet been well investigated. In order to promote their balance and functional capacity in longer term, more sustained training and better exercise adherence may be necessary.

## Eligibility

- **Minimum age:** 30 Years
- **Sex:** ALL
- **Healthy Volunteers:** No

```
Inclusion Criteria:

* Parkinson disease diagnosed by neurologist with Hoehn \& Yahr stage 2 or 3
* Having a 30-meter walking ability

Exclusion Criteria:

* Significant neurological condition (other than Parkinson's disease)
* Musculoskeletal conditions affecting gait, balance or upper limb functions
* Had received deep brain stimulation surgery
* Cognitive impairment with Montreal Cognitive Assessment score \<24
* Present with on-off motor fluctuations.
```

## Arms

- **Brisk walking and balance training** (EXPERIMENTAL) — 1. Week1-6: Supervised training in groups of 6-8 participant, once/week, 90 min/session
2. Week 7-26: Supervised training in groups of 6-8 participant, once/month, 90 min/session
3. Participants practice own balance exercise and brisk walking 2-3 times/week (to aim at 150 min of moderate intensity of brisk walking per week at 40-60% of heart rate reserve)
- **Upper limb exercise** (ACTIVE_COMPARATOR) — 1. Week1-6: Supervised training in groups of 6-8 participant, once/week, 90 min/session
2. Week 7-26: Supervised training in groups of 6-8 participant, once/month, 90 min/session
3. Participants practice own upper limb exercise 2-3 times/week (to aim at 150 min of exercise per week)

## Interventions

- **Brisk walking and balance training** (BEHAVIORAL) — 6 months of combined brisk walking and balance training
- **Upper limb exercise** (BEHAVIORAL) — 6 month of hand dexterity training

## Primary Outcomes

- **Mini-Balance Evaluation Systems Test (miniBest) total scores** _(time frame: 1 year)_ — To evaluate dynamic balance in four domains: anticipatory postural adjustments, postural reactions, sensory integration and gait stability. The miniBEST scores range from 0 to 28, with a higher score indicates better dynamic balance.
- **Six-minute walking test (6MWT) distance** _(time frame: 1 year)_ — The maximum walking distance covered during a validated six-minute walk test (6MWT) to document participants' aerobic endurance level and walking capacity
- **Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale Part III (MDS-UPDRS-III) score** _(time frame: 1 year)_ — This score consists of 18 items in 33 questions examining the motor and functional capacity of people with Parkinson's disease by the assessor. Each question will be rated from 0 (normal) to 4 (severe). The MDS-UPDRS-III score ranges from 0 to 132, with higher scores indicating more severe motor and functional impairments

## Secondary Outcomes

- **Fast gait speed** _(time frame: 1 year)_
- **Dual-task timed-up-and-go-time** _(time frame: 1 year)_
- **Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale Part I (MDS-UPDRS-I) score** _(time frame: 1 year)_
- **Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) Scale score** _(time frame: 1 year)_
- **Parkinson Disease Questionnaire-39 (PDQ-39) summary index score** _(time frame: 1 year)_
- **Fall risk** _(time frame: 1 year)_
- **Fall rate** _(time frame: 1 year)_
- **Injurious fall risk** _(time frame: 1 year)_
- **Injurious fall rate** _(time frame: 1 year)_

## Locations (1)

- The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, Nothing Selected, Hong Kong

## Recent Field Changes (last 30 days)

- `status.overallStatus` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `status.primaryCompletionDate` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `status.completionDate` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `status.lastUpdatePostDate` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `design.phases` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `design.enrollmentCount` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `eligibility.criteria` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `eligibility.minAge` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `eligibility.sex` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `outcomes.primary` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `outcomes.secondary` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `armsInterventions.arms` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `armsInterventions.interventions` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `sponsor.lead` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `results.hasResults` — added _(2026-05-12)_
- `locations.the hong kong polytechnic university|hong kong|nothing selected|hong kong` — added _(2026-05-12)_

---

*Canonical: https://parkinsonspathways.com/agent/trials/NCT04048291.md*  
*Source data (authoritative): https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04048291*  
*This page is a raw mirror with no AI summary, no editorial enrichment, and no Parkinson's-specific filtering.*