Dancing, moving may reduce BMD loss in patients admitted in psychiatric hospitals

Dance/movement therapy (DMT) rehabilitation appears to be beneficial to patients with schizophrenia who are admitted in psychiatric hospitals, yielding improvements in bone mineral density (BMD) and balance, as shown in a study.

For the study, 58 patients were randomly assigned to undergo DMT (n=29, mean age 55.4 years) or receive treatment as usual (control; n=29, mean age 55.3 years) for 12 weeks. The efficacy of the interventions was evaluated using BMD and balance ability. These outcomes were measured at baseline and at week 12.

The DMT and control groups had similar baseline characteristics, including the proportion of smokers (55.2 percent vs 58.6 percent), calcium levels, BMD, and static and dynamic balance, among others. At the end of the intervention, however, the DMT group showed significant improvements in BMD and balance ability compared with the TAU group.

In the DMT group, BMD increased by 0.03 (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.01–0.05), Berg total score increased by 7.3 (95 percent CI, 5.6–9.0), and static and dynamic balance increased by 4.0 (95 percent CI, 0.9–7.1) and 3.7 (95 percent CI, 2.6–4.8), respectively.

Regression analysis showed that baseline BMD significantly predicted BMD outcomes in the DMT group (p<0.001).

The present data suggest DMT intervention may help reduce the risk of falls and fractures due to physical inactivity caused by long-term hospitalization and the use of antipsychotic drugs among patients with schizophrenia.