Effects of a Single Session of Whole Body Vibration Compared to Multiple Sessions—An Updated Review and Meta-Analysis

Parkinson’s disease is an incurable neurological disease. Only the symptoms can be treated with medication or exercise therapy. The present analysis is intended to show how whole-body vibration training affects the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, distinguishing between acute and long-term effects. Methods: online databases (EMBASE, PubMed, PEDro) were searched for reviews, meta-analyses and new studies since the previous most recent review/meta-analysis. Studies with at least a medium methodological quality (PEDro score at least 5 points) were selected. Results were presented as forest plots that indicated standardized mean differences with 95% confidence interval. Results: Sixteen studies were found with a PEDro-score of at least 5 points. Of these, three studies were excluded from the qualitative analysis because the necessary data, such as standard deviation or control group results, were missing. The effect sizes are very mixed. In some parameters there is no effect, in others a very strong effect. The effects in the comparison between single and multiple treatments are similar. Discussion: The different effects may be partly due to the different vibration frequencies or sentence durations, as well as to different valid test procedures. Conclusions: Since the study situation still does not show clear results, further studies must follow that compare different frequencies, sentence durations and vibration types with each other, so that training recommendations can be given on this basis.