Quantitative Gait Analysis in Parkinson’s Disease: Comparison With a Healthy Control Group

Abstract

Objective: To compare gait parameters in Parkinson's disease (PD) during the on-phase of medication cycle with those of healthy elderly control subjects.Design: A group-comparison study. Setting: Gait analysis laboratory of a university hospital. Participants: Fifteen patients with PD and 9 healthy elderly controls.Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: Spatiotemporal, kinematic, and kinetic gait parameters.Results: The PD spatiotemporal results showed a significant reduction in step length and walking velocity compared with controls. In the kinematics, the major feature of the PD group was a markedly reduced ankle plantarflexion excursion (at 50%-60% of the gait cycle). Most important, the kinetics showed reduced ankle push-off power and hip pull-off power. Unlike the control subjects, the patients with PD did not show any correlation between ankle generation (push-off) power and stride length (rϭ.19) or with gait speed (rϭ.29). Correction for walking velocity did not result in significant changes in the kinetics between the groups.Conclusions: Reduced ankle (push-off) power generation and reduced hip flexion (pull-off) power persisted in PD gait despite being tested in the on-phase of the medication cycle. Lack of a correlation between ankle and hip power generation and walking velocity suggests that peripheral and central factors contribute to lack of forward progression. Patients with PD may benefit from intervention strategies that correct the kinematic and the kinetic gait components.

Feldenkrais method and functionality in Parkinson’s disease: a randomized controlled clinical trial

“…PD patients have difficulty performing tasks due to the nature of the problems related to the disease, such as difficulty in dissociation of movements and trunk-rotation deficit [22]. Whereas, in our sample, after the Feldenkrais sessions, the participants showed better body awareness that improved velocity and balance during task performance.…”

“…The figure-of-eight walk test assesses the ability to walk in different paths. The curvilinear circuit requires balance and motor coordination to change the direction along pathway tasks [18,22]. The test showed that the Feldenkrais group had dexterity to dissociate movements beside trunk rotations.…”

“…It combines sequential motor actions that recruit components responsible for functional capacity, strength, flexibility and agility. These components are deficient in PD-patients because of rigidity, bradykinesia and akinesia [18,22].…”

The Effect of Exercise Training in Improving Motor Performance and Corticomotor Excitability in People With Early Parkinson's Disease

“…The modest improvement in gait velocity after treadmill exercise reported in all these studies including ours may be related to the fact that subjects were already walking at normal gait velocities before the exercise programs. [39][40][41][42] Perhaps a more notable observation than changes in gait velocity was that the subjects in the high-intensity exercise group demonstrated improved gait performance manifest as changes in gait strategy. Thus, the high-intensity subjects walked within the range of normal gait speed, but did so by taking longer steps and moving forward over their limbs through a larger ROM (see tables 3 , 4).…”

Body Balance and Core Training in Parkinson’s Disease: A Longitudinal Crossover Study

“…Subjects with PD report increased difficulty in maintaining balance not only during static situations, but also in dynamic one and in the transition phase between static and dynamic state during transitions between static and dynamic [9]. Gait cycle evaluations in subjects with PD [10] reported a decrease in the speed of walking and step length [11]. Yang et al [12] showed a correlation between step length, dynamic balance and the displacement of the center of gravity.…”