Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Jan/Mar;32(1):28-34.
doi: 10.11138/fneur/2017.32.1.028.

Gait analysis and clinical correlations in early Parkinson's disease

M Pistacchi, M Gioulis, F Sanson, E De Giovannini, G Filippi, F Rossetto, S Zambito Marsala

Gait analysis and clinical correlations in early Parkinson's disease

M Pistacchi et al. Funct Neurol. 2017 Jan/Mar.

Abstract

The aim of our study was to identify and quantify spatiotemporal and kinematic gait parameters obtained by 3D gait analysis (GA) in a group of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients compared with healthy subjects in order to investigate whether early PD patients could present an abnormal gait pattern. Forty-four patients affected by early-stage PD compared with a control group were analyzed. All participants were evaluated with 3D GA in the gait laboratory. The greatest significance in temporal parameters was found in cadence (102.46 ± 13.17 steps/min in parkinsonian patients vs 113.84 ± 4.30 steps/min in control subjects), followed by stride duration (1.19 ± 0.18 seconds right limb and 1.19 ± 0.19 seconds left limb in PD patients vs 0.426 ± 0.16 seconds right limb and 0.429 ± 0.23 seconds left limb in normal subjects) and stance duration. Marked differences were also found in the swing phase and in swing duration (p<0.05), while the stance phase was not significantly different in patients compared with healthy subjects. A statistically different velocity in PD patients (0.082 ± 0.29 m/s) vs healthy subjects (1.33 ± 0.06 m/s) was shown by spatial parameter analysis. Step width, stride length and swing velocity were highly significant parameters, as was average velocity. Our study highlighted some distinguishing characteristics of gait in early PD. Ambulation disorders may be present in the early stage of PD and their detection allows for early medical treatment and possible rehabilitation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interests

The Authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Walking patterns of the lower limb joints in the sagittal plane in a typical PD subject from the study (age: 68 years) acquired under levodopa effect.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(A) Position markers; (B) infrared camera; (C) dynamometric platform; (D) infrared cameras and position cameras.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Abbruzzese G, Antonini A, Barone P, et al. Linguistic, psychometric validation and diagnostic ability assessment of an Italian version of a 19-item wearing-off questionnaire for wearing-off detection in Parkinson’s disease. Neurol Sci Dec. 2012;33:1319–13227. - PubMed
    1. Bello O, Marquez G, Camblor M, et al. Mechanisms involved in treadmill walking improvements in Parkinson’s disease. Gait and Posture. 2010;32:118–123. - PubMed
    1. Buckley T, Pitsokoulis C, Hass C. Dynamic postural stability during sit-to-walk transitions in Parkinson disease patients. Movement Disorders. 2008;23:1274–1280. - PubMed
    1. Chien A, Lin SZ, Liang CC, et al. The efficacy of qualitative gait analysis by the GAITRite system in evaluation of parkinsonian bradykinesia. Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2006;12:438–442. - PubMed
    1. Colnat-Coulbois S, Gauchard GC, Maillard L, et al. Management of postural sensory conflict and dynamic balance control in late-stage Parkinson’s disease. Neuroscience. 2011;193:363–369. - PubMed