Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic Of Iran

en The Effect of 12 Weeks of Cawthorne-Cooksey Exercises on Balance and Quality of Life in Patients with Parkinson's Disease Sports and Exercise Medicine Sports and Exercise Medicine Original Research Original Research Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is known as the second most destructive central nervous system (CNS) disorder, which leads to movement slowness, tremors, decreased balance, instability, and CNS disorders in affected patients. This study aimed to investigate the effect of 12 weeks of Cawthorne-Cooksey exercises on the balance and the quality of life in patients with PD.    Methods: This was a quasi-experimental study, and the research population consisted of PD patients in Zahedan City who were present at the Zahedan Elderly Center during May, June, and July 2022. Twenty-four individuals who were 53 to 69 years old volunteered to participate in this study and were assigned to the experimental (N = 12) and control (N = 12) groups. In addition to the usual treatment, the experimental group performed Cawthorne-Cooksey exercises (CCE) exercises for 12 weeks, while the control group only received the usual treatment during this period. The CCE exercises were performed for 60-minute sessions, three days a week, for twelve weeks. The Berg Balance Scale (BBS) was used to evaluate balance, and the Parkinson's Disease Quality of Life Questionnaire (PDQL 37) was used to assess the QOL of PD. The data were analyzed using Wilcoxon and Mann-Whitney U tests.    Results: The Mann-Whitney U test results revealed that the experimental group exhibited significantly higher scores in all factors of QOL and balance during the post-test when compared to the control group (P < 0.05). Moreover, the outcomes of the Wilcoxon test demonstrated significant improvements in all components of QOL and balance for the experimental group from pre-test to post-test (P < 0.05), whereas the control group experienced a notable decline in both balance and QOL during the same period (P < 0.05).    Conclusion: The study demonstrates that CCE exercises positively influence the balance and quality of life of Parkinson's disease patients, suggesting their potential as complementary therapy in the treatment of PD.   Cawthorne-Cooksey Exercises, Parkinson's disease, Quality of life, Balance, Elderly 976 981 http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-8373-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Mohammad Seyedahmadi mseyedahmadi@velayat.ac.ir 200319475328460080841 200319475328460080841 Yes Department of Sport Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Velayat University, Iranshahr, Iran Javad Taherzadeh taherzadeh.javad@gmail.com 200319475328460080842 200319475328460080842 No Department of Sport Sciences, Naragh Branch, Islamic Azad University, Naragh, Iran Hadi Akbari h.akbari@uoz.ac.ir 200319475328460080843 200319475328460080843 No Department of Sport Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Zabol, Zabol, Iran