Short-term effects on mobility, activities of daily living and health-related quality of life of a Conductive Education programme for adults with multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and stroke

Objective: To evaluate the impact of 10 sessions of Conductive Education on mobility, functional independence and health-related quality of life in adults with multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and stroke. Design: Observational, pretest-posttest design. Setting: The National Institute of Conductive Education, Birmingham, UK. Participants: One hundred and twenty-nine self-referred community-living individuals with moderate disability. Intervention: Following an individual consultation, participants attended 10 diagnostic-specific group sessions of Conductive Education, scheduled daily or less commonly weekly. Outcome measures: All participants were assessed using the Barthel Index and the Nottingham Extended Activities of Daily living Index. Stroke, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease patients also completed the Short Form 36 (SF-36) Health Survey, the Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life 54 questionnaire (MSQoL-54) and the Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39) respectively. Results: One hundred and five individuals completed the programme as well as all pre and post-assessments. Of these, 34 had suffered a stroke, 55 had Parkinson's disease and 16 had multiple sclerosis. Stroke patients demonstrated statistically significant improvements in the Nottingham Extended Activities of Daily living Index (mean change 3.4, P <0.001) and the SF-36 mental health subsection (mean change 7.8, P <0.001). Non-significant trends towards improved physical and mental function were demonstrated by other outcome measures across all three diagnoses. Conclusions: The results emphasize potential benefits of Conductive Education for individuals with stroke. The results will inform further randomized comparisons of the effects of Conductive Education in neurologically disabled people.