Highlights
- •Irregular surface posed a greater challenge to maintain balance for Parkinsonian gait.
- •The ankle transverse range of motion was significantly larger on irregular surface.
- •Parkinsonian gait showed a smaller knee sagittal range of motion than controls.
- •Parkinsonian gait indicated a relatively large root mean square of trunk acceleration.
Abstract
Background
Persons with Parkinson's disease are at high risk for fall-related injuries with a
large proportion of falls occurring while walking, especially when the walking environments
are complex. The aim of this study was to characterize gait parameters on irregular
surface for persons with Parkinson's disease.
Methods
Three-dimensional gait analysis was conducted for nine persons with Parkinson's disease
and nine healthy age-matched adults on both regular and irregular surfaces. Repeated
ANOVA and paired t-test were performed to determine the effect of surface and group for spatiotemporal,
kinematic and stability variables.
Findings
Individuals with Parkinson's disease showed a larger ratio of reduction for speed,
cadence and step length than controls when the surface changed from regular to irregular.
The ankle transverse range of motion and root mean square of trunk acceleration increased
on irregular surface for both groups. Additionally, individuals with Parkinson's disease
demonstrated a decreased knee sagittal range of motion and trunk frontal and transverse
range of motion compared with controls, especially on the irregular surface.
Interpretation
The irregular surface posed a greater challenge to maintain balance and stability
for individuals with Parkinson's disease. A relatively small knee range of motion
in the sagittal plane and large root mean square of trunk acceleration increased the
potential fall risk for individuals with Parkinson's disease. This information improves
the understanding of parkinsonian gait adaptations on irregular surfaces and may guide
gait training and rehabilitation interventions for this high fall-risk population.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 25, 2018
Accepted:
June 23,
2018
Received:
October 8,
2017
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
