The Effect of Cervical Spinal Stabilization Exercises in Patients With Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease (PH); it occurs due to dopamine deficiency due to the loss of dopaminergic neurons in a degenerative process in the substantia nigra found in the middle brain; resting tremor, bradykinesia, trunk and extremities rigidity, mask facial and postural instability characterized by a neurodegenerative disease. These findings are basic and also motor symptoms of Parkinson's Disease. Non-motor symptoms include many problems ranging from autonomic dysfunction to sensory symptoms. Treatment of Parkinson's disease requires a multidisciplinary approach such as medical treatment, physiotherapy and rehabilitation, surgical treatment. Physiotherapy programs applied to patients with Parkinson's disease include classical physiotherapy methods and neurophysiological based methods. Spinal stabilization is an important concept for proper control of body balance and extremity movements. Spinal stabilization training was based on biomechanics, neurophysiology and physiotherapy research. Stabilization exercises, which form the basis of spinal stabilization training, increase the strength and endurance of the postural and stabilizing muscles using the basic principles of motor learning and improve stability control in stable and unstable positions, provides postural smoothness. The cervical region is one of the most affected regions of the musculoskeletal system due to the intensive proprioceptors. Although studies have been carried out to investigate the effect of spinal stabilization exercises in Parkinson's patients, there is no study on the effect of cervical region stabilization exercises in the literature despite these important connections of the cervical region. For these reasons, this study is planned to investigate the effects of cervical spinal stabilization exercises on spinal posture, cervical proprioception and postural instability in Parkinson's patients. Hypothesis 1: When cervical spinal stabilization exercises are added to the traditional physiotherapy program in Parkinson's patients, it will be more effective in correcting spinal posture. Hypothesis 2: When cervical spinal stabilization exercises are added to the traditional physiotherapy program in Parkinson's patients, cervical proprioception will develop better. Hypothesis 3: In the case of Parkinson's patients, when the cervical spinal stabilization exercises are added to the traditional physiotherapy program, postural stability may be more pronounced.