Gait disorders may be associated with cognitive impairment, and slow speed predicts cognitive impairment and dementia. Objective: To investigate the relationships between cognitive function and gait performance in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) who attended a hospital neurorehabilitation program. Methods: Descriptive and inferential statistics (Pearson’s correlation) were used for data analysis. The cognitive functions were evaluated through Digit Span, Mental Control, Trail Making Test, Phonemic Verbal Fluency Task, and Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination III. The motor function was assessed through 10-meter walk test, Mini BESTest and Timed Up and Go Test. Results: A total of 65 patients were included in this study. Of these, 66.15% were males, mean age was 61.14 (8.39) years, mean educational was 12 (8) years, disease progression time was 5.45 (4.37) years. 64.61% were in stages I and II of the Hoehn and Yahr stage. The correlation analyses showed that balance skills are significantly correlated with the ability to switch attention between two tasks and visuospatial function. The function mobility showed a significant correlation with cognitive tests. Conclusion: Data suggest the importance of the aspects of switch attention and mental flexibility in gait, evidencing the greater difficulty for double tasks.
ABSTRACT. Cross-sectional studies show an association of decline in mental flexibility and inhibitory control with reduced gait speed and falls, as well as divided attention deficit and difficulty in initiating gait. Objective: To investigate the relationships between cognitive function and gait performance in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) who participated in a hospital neurorehabilitation program. Methods: A total of 107 patients (79 males, 28 females; mean age 61.00±8.2 years; mean schooling 11.7±4.1 years) with idiopathic PD (mean disease duration 5.5±4.1 years) were recruited for this study. Among them, 78.50% were in stages I and II of the Hoehn & Yahr Scale. Cognitive functions were evaluated through the Digit Span test, Trail Making Test, and Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination III. Motor function was assessed with the 10-Meter Walk Test, the short version of the Balance Evaluation Systems Test (Mini-BESTest), and the Timed Up and Go Test. Results: Balance skills were significantly correlated with global cognition and specific domains, including divided attention, verbal fluency, and visuospatial function. Functional mobility showed a significant association with all cognitive tests, except for the number of errors on TMT-A. Gait speed presented a significant correlation with global cognition scores, memory, and attention, including divided attention. Conclusions: These findings might help early identification of cognitive deficits or motor dysfunctions in PD patients who may benefit from rehabilitation strategies, as well as facilitate fall risk assessments and strategies to prevent falls. Future prospective studies are needed to investigate the effects of cognitive training on motor performance, since the difficulty in motor rehabilitation may be more related to cognitive loss than to motor damage.
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