Effect of Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT)® BIG on motor symptoms in a patient with severe Parkinson’s disease: a case report

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.

KEYWORDS:

• Severe Parkinson’s disease
• Lee Silverman Voice Treatment® big
• motor symptom

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.