A major new study from Oxford University suggests that lower daily step counts could help identify people who may later be diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
The researchers found that reduced movement patterns, even years before a diagnosis, may be an early warning sign rather than a risk factor that causes the disease.
Parkinson’s disease is the second most common brain disorder after Alzheimer’s and is growing faster than any other. In 2004, there were around 5.2 million people living with Parkinson’s worldwide, and by 2020, that number had nearly doubled to 9.4 million.
Long before symptoms like tremors or stiffness appear and a clinical diagnosis is made, small changes in movement and other subtle signs often begin to show up. Finding and understanding those early signs may help doctors monitor people more closel…
Previous research showed that people who report lower physical activity tend to have a higher risk of Parkinson’s. But it’s hard to know whether less activity causes the disease, or if early, undiagnosed Parkinson’s is already making people move less.
That’s why the Oxford team looked at daily step counts, which are a more objective way to measure movement. These can be easily tracked by smartwatches or fitness apps.
In this new study, published in npj Parkinson’s Disease, researchers used data from the UK Biobank, a large health project that followed over half a million adults in the United Kingdom.
A smaller group of about 95,000 participants wore wrist devices to track their movement for up to seven days between 2013 and 2015. The researchers then looked at who later developed Parkinson’s over a follow-up period of nearly eight years.
The average participant recorded about 9,400 steps per day. People who walked the most—more than 12,369 steps per day—were usually younger and had lower body weight than those who walked the least, which was under 6,276 steps.
During the study, 407 people developed Parkinson’s disease, and most of them had lower step counts than people who did not develop the disease.
What was especially interesting was how step counts changed depending on how far in the future the diagnosis occurred. People who developed Parkinson’s more than six years after their step data was recorded still had lower step counts than average, though the differences were smaller.
But those diagnosed within two years had much lower step counts, suggesting that the disease may have already been starting to affect their movement—even if no one noticed yet.
The data showed that people who walked more than 12,369 steps each day had a 59% lower chance of developing Parkinson’s than those who walked fewer than 6,276 steps.
Even after adjusting for other factors like body weight, diabetes, depression, sleep, and bladder problems, the results stayed the same. Every extra 1,000 steps per day was linked to an 8% lower chance of being diagnosed.
But when the researchers looked at different time windows, they found the strongest link between step count and Parkinson’s within the first two years after the movement data was collected. After six years or more, the link weakened and eventually became statistically insignificant.
This shows that low step counts may be a sign of early Parkinson’s changes already starting in the brain, rather than a risk factor that causes the disease later. In other words, not walking enough might not lead to Parkinson’s—but early Parkinson’s might lead to not walking enough.
These findings could help doctors watch for early changes in activity patterns using wearable devices, allowing for earlier attention and closer monitoring of people at higher risk. It also shows the potential of step data as a simple, accessible tool for catching early warning signs before more serious symptoms appear.
If you care about Parkinson’s disease, please read studies that Vitamin B may slow down cognitive decline, and Mediterranean diet could help lower risk of Parkinson’s.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies that blueberry supplements may prevent cognitive decline, and results showing Plant-based diets could protect cognitive health from air pollution.
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