Classical Guitar for Parkinson's Disease

The purpose of this study is to understand if training Parkinson's disease patients in classical guitar will improve motor function, mood, and quality of life. While medication has been found to be effective for many Parkinson's disease patients, many patients still have symptoms. Previous studies have found that music and rhythm-based activities can help Parkinson's disease symptoms. A previous study looked at the effect of playing classical guitar on Parkinson's disease symptoms. They found positive changes in Parkinson's disease symptoms that lasted for 6 weeks after the study ended. Further, there were positive changes in depression, anxiety, and quality of life.

Subjects will be asked to take part in classical guitar lessons once a week for six weeks and physical therapy once a week for six weeks. There will be 40 people enrolled in the study. Twenty people will have classical guitar lessons first and physical therapy second. The other twenty people will have physical therapy first and classical guitar lessons second. The study will last a total of 12 weeks. Each session will last 1-2 hours. Sessions will be held at the Northwest Chapter headquarters of the American Parkinson's Disease Association. Examples of the types of activities subjects will do during the physical therapy sessions include finger exercises, tasks with both hands, tasks while standing, and tasks while walking. Examples of the types of activities you will do during the classical guitar lessons include playing chords and songs on the guitar. Subjects will have physical exams and complete questionnaires at the beginning of the study, at six weeks, and at the end of the study. If subjects have Apple watches, they will be asked to download an application called StrivePD on their watch and iPhone. StrivePD is an application that allows subjects to keep track of their Parkinson's disease symptoms or set medication reminders, for example. When used with an Apple watch, it can automatically record symptoms like tremors. During this study, the StrivePD application will only be used to collect data about what percentage of the day they have tremors and how much they sleep.

Change in the motor subscore of the Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Motor Subscale

Change in Parkinson's disease rating scale, range 0-32, higher score means more severe Parkinson's disease symptoms

Inclusion Criteria: 50-90 years old Diagnosis with Parkinson's disease by a Movement Disorder specialist Exclusion Criteria: Professional musician or formal music training Inability to play a classical guitar physically Inability to follow instruction Receiving physical therapy at the time of the study Unable to attend all sessions of study