Effects of cardiorespiratory interventions on functional capacity and associated outcomes in patients with Parkinson's disease: a systematic review

The present study aims to analyze the effects of cardiorespiratory interventions on functional capacity and motor outcomes in patients with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease. A systematic review was conducted following the recommendations of the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) protocol, with the aim of identifying, screening, assessing the eligibility of, and including studies in the present review. The PubMed, PEDro, and BVS databases were used to select studies conducted between 2016 and 2026, including randomized clinical trials that aimed to evaluate cardiorespiratory interventions based on aerobic exercise, respiratory muscle training, or a combination of both interventions; the risk of bias of the articles was assessed using the Risk of Bias 2 tool. After analysis, a total of 11 randomized clinical trials were included, encompassing a total of 768 patients. Based on the analyses, nine demonstrated a significant improvement in functional capacity in patients, with improvement observed especially with aerobic exercise protocols. Respiratory muscle training was investigated on a smaller scale, showing promising results for the intervention. Motor outcomes (balance, gait speed, and quality of life) showed inconsistent results, with divergence observed between protocols and assessment instruments. At the end of the study, it is concluded that cardiorespiratory interventions, more specifically aerobic exercise, demonstrated potential for improving functional and motor capacity in patients with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease, highlighting the need for more clinical trials with methodological standardization and larger samples for more precise evidence and greater reliability.