Postural stability in Parkinson's disease patients' wives and in elderly women leading different lifestyles.

The study aimed to determine postural stability of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients' wives in comparison with women differing in their lifestyle. (PD) patients' wives ( = 44), homemakers ( = 41), and female students of the University of the Third Age ( = 43) performed balance tests on a stabilometric platform. The PD patients' wives were characterized by significantly ( < 0.001) higher values of mean velocity sway than the homemakers and students (approximately 3.5 and 5 mm/s, respectively) and performed worst in displacement velocity and sway range in both sagittal and frontal plane. The results indicate that the wives of PD patients need support in the area of health training targeted at improving their standing stability.