The Effect of High Frequency Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Gait and Balance in Parkinson"s Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of high frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on walking and balance in Parkinson"s patients. Fifteen subjects were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups, and high-frequency rTMS was applied to the experimental group for 20 minutes per day, 5 times a week for a total of 4 weeks. The gait speed of the subject was evaluated by 10MWT, and the dynamic and static balance was evaluated using TUG and BBS. In the experimental group, significant improvement was observed in 10MWT, TUG, and BBS after intervention (p < 0.05), and there was significant improvement in 10MWT and BBS compared to the control group (p < 0.05). The results of this study suggest that high frequency rTMS applied to primary motor cortex (M1) positively affects walking and balance in Parkinson"s patients.