Patients with mild Parkinson disease who exercised strenuously at home improved their motor scores and showed good adherence to a minimally supervised exercise program, reported a in Lancet Neurology.

The 130 sedentary patients taking stable dopaminergic medication were randomly assigned to either an at-home high-intensity aerobic exercise program or stretching program. Both groups trained 30 to 45 minutes 3 times per week for 6 months with minimal supervision.

At 6 months, motor function tested during the off-state (≥12 h after last dopaminergic medication) showed a clinically significant between-group difference of 4.2 points in favor of the aerobic exercise group. Seven patients in the aerobic exercise group and 4 patients in the control group had adverse events.