Article

Freezing of gait (FOG) remains one of the most common debilitating
aspects of Parkinson's disease and has been linked to injuries, falls and reduced
quality of life. Although commercially available portable cueing devices exist
claiming to assist with overcoming freezing; their immediate effectiveness in
overcoming gait initiation failure is currently unknown. This study investigated
the effects of three different types of cueing device in people with Parkinson's
disease who experience freezing. METHODS: Twenty participants with idiopathic
Parkinson's disease who experienced freezing during gait but who were able to
walk short distances indoors independently were recruited. At least three
attempts at gait initiation were recorded using a 10 camera Qualisys motion
analysis system and four force platforms. Test conditions were; Laser Cane, sound
metronome, vibrating metronome, walking stick and no intervention. RESULTS:
During testing 12 of the 20 participants had freezing episodes, from these
participants 100 freezing and 91 non-freezing trials were recorded. Clear
differences in the movement patterns were seen between freezing and non-freezing
episodes. The Laser Cane was most effective cueing device at improving the
forwards/backwards and side to side movement and had the least number of freezing
episodes. The walking stick also showed significant improvements compared to the
other conditions. The vibration metronome appeared to disrupt movement compared
to the sound metronome at the same beat frequency. CONCLUSION: This study
identified differences in the movement patterns between freezing episodes and
non-freezing episodes, and identified immediate improvements during gait
initiation when using the Laser Cane over the other interventions.
CI - Copyright (c) 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Langue : ANGLAIS