ABSTRACT
Introduction
Lee Silverman Voice Treatment® BIG (LSVT® BIG) is widely used to improve motor symptoms in patients with mild-to-moderate Parkinson’s disease (PD).
Objective
To describe the effect of LSVT® BIG on the motor symptoms of a patient with severe PD.
Case Description
A 77-year-old woman who was diagnosed with PD received a 4-week LSVT® BIG program under the supervision of certified LSVT® BIG physical therapists. Her disease severity was classified as Hoehn and Yahr stage 4. The unified Parkinson’s disease rating scale (UPDRS) part 3, 10-m walk test (10MWT), timed up-and-go test (TUG), Berg balance scale (BBS), and 30-s chair stand test (30-s CST) were used for assessment before and after intervention.
Outcomes
The UPDRS part 3, 10MWT, TUG, BBS, and 30-s CST improved after intervention (33 to 26, 0.51 to 0.69 m/s, 38.1 to 23.2 seconds, 11 to 34, and 3 to 9 times, respectively). All improvements exceeded the Minimal Clinically Important Difference or Minimal Detectable Change values (2.5, 0.16 m/s, 3.5 seconds, 5, and 3 times, respectively).
Conclusions
These results indicated that LSVT® BIG appears to have improved motor symptoms in a patient with severe PD. Further studies, ideally randomized controlled trials, are needed to confirm these findings.
Acknowledgments
We appreciate the staff of the Department of Rehabilitation at Kawamura Hospital for their helpful technical assistance.
Disclosure statement
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.