People with Parkinson's are aging with a degenerative disease.  BwP's philosophy is Even is Winning!  Learn about EiW!.

BwP's research focuses on quality of life and managing the physical capabilities and limitations associated with Parkinson's.  BwP's research is based on long term, large scale studies optimized to track individual Boxers, their exercise patterns and the physical improvement or declines.  Each Boxer is only measured against themselves and their data is used to generate average results data.  

The study included 48 Boxers with at least 2 complete and legible PDQ-39 surveys.  The PDQ-39 is a 39 question survey on a Boxer's perceptions of how Parkinson's impacts their quality of life and assesses their fall risk. The PDQ-39 is a Patient Reported Outcomes, PRO, survey.

The survey questions are grouped into 8 categories including Mobility, Daily Living, Social, Emotional, Cognitive, Communication, Stigma and Body.  For study purposes, we grouped Mobility with Daily Living, Cognitive with Communication, and Social with Emotional questions.

Mobility & Daily Living.    

Cognitive & Communication.    

Social & Emotional.    

Overall.    

The FAB is a battery of 10 physical tests developed by the University of California Fullerton specifically to test balance in people with Parkinson's.  BwP takes the position while the individual tests are valuable in measuring a person's mobility or risk to fall, they are not Parkinson's specific.  For study purposes, BwP makes the following observations.

• The FAB are coach administered tests, CATs, not PRO like the PDQ-39. 
• Level 4 Parkinson's Boxers cannot take do most of the tests so the inclusion of Level 4 Boxers will skew the test results lower.  It is unknown how many Level 4 Boxers were included in the test but it was a small number, possibly 0.
• People with bad knees or a bad back may not be able to take several of the tests scoring a 0.  However, a bad back is not a Parkinson's symptom or a fall risk indicator.  So, the ability to identify Boxers limitations not related to Parkinson will be valuable in future studies.
• The Reactive Posture test and the Walk with Head Turns tests are impossible to accurately and consistently administer by lay coaches proving widely inconsistent and unreliable results.  BwP will eliminated these tests in future studies, however, they are included in this study.

FAB Study Results.  EiW!...  84% tested even or improved.

We did not freeze the Boxer population at the time of these tests so we don't know what the percentage of Level 4 Boxers was... but it might have been the 16% who declined.  In the future BwP will rerun this study making several adjustments:

• We will only include people who have been boxing at least 6 months.  Boxers in their first 6 months experience a fast improvement ramp just from fitness and conditioning.
• We will not include Level 1 Boxers as they are newly diagnosed with 0% decline and limited improvement potential.
• We will not include Level 4 Boxers as their Parkinson's is dominate in their life.

*  Even is defined as +/- 3 points to allow for differences in  any Boxer on the same day or months apart and possible differences in the coaches administer or score the tests.

BwP considers the TUG as the best indicator of a Boxers improvement or decline as it is a complex action test. Basically, a Boxer sits in a chair and on the GO command, they rise from the chair, walk quickly 10 feet to a cone, walk around the cone and back to the chair, turn and sit.  The test is timed and all ages and both males and females have an 8 second target time.  The Boxers like the TUG as they compete with themselves and the improvement or decline is very obvious. 

TUG Results.  Boxers showing a decline were 20%.

FAB Study Results.  EiW!...  84% tested even or improved.

We 

The Sit-to-Stand, S2S, is a nationally recognized test measuring...

S2S is conducted by having the Boxer sit in a straight-back chair and on GO, the rise to a full standing position and then sit completely releasing their weight to the chair.  The test runs 30 seconds and the coach counts the number of times the Boxer comes to a full stand.

S2S Study Results.  EiW!...  93% tested even or improved.

This study included a PRO* survey reporting each Boxer's perceptions of how Parkinson's impacts their quality of life, the PDQ-39, and a series of 12 physical tests, CAT**, optimized to test a Boxer's balance and fall risk.   

Here are all the numbers in one place:

From the above results, we learn:

• Quality of life:  An average overall even or improved QoL score of 47% is encouraging.  However, 53% perceiving a decline in their QoL is discouraging.
• We assumed that a Boxer's QoL scores would mirror their change in their physical scores...  Improving physical scores would bring improving QoL scores.  The study shows QoL scores improved at about half the rate of physical scores.
• The declining QoL numbers are more than 3 times the declining Physical scores.  The study indicates that minimally declining physical scores drive disproportionate QoL scores.  The impact of changing physical capabilities hit them hard. In the next test, we need to look at which QoL categories were the declines in.  If the declines were in the emotional category vs the mobility category, the conclusions would be different.  As an example, a 20% decline in the TUG scores compares with a 45% decline in Mobility and Daily Living scores.  
• Overall, 53% perceived a decline in their QoL since their intake.  The group dynamics, energy and extended family element of Rock Steady should have come into play more than the survey shows.
• Comparing Boxers who stayed even in Mobility and Daily Living, 15%, only 2% stayed even in the physical tests.  Boxers perceiving they stayed even versus objective physical tests showing greater results.  Remember "even" is +/- 3 points... both ways... a 6 point spread.
• With an average 14% decline in coach administered physical tests and an average PRO decline of 53% in the QoL scores, scores appear to  be out of balance.  It may be with the Boxer's, the construction of the study, or the analytics and calculations.  Or, the scores are correct.
• In future studies we will add frequency and intensity as test elements.  We will also be able to consider additional exercise such as cycling, yoga, Tai Chi, Pilates, etc. along with Boxing.  

*  Patient Reported Outcomes

** Coach Administered Tests