Towards Personalized Rehabilitation for Gait Impairments in Parkinson's Disease

Abstract

Non-pharmacological interventions are essential in the management of gait impairments in Parkinson's disease. The evidence for these interventions is growing rapidly. However, studies evaluating these interventions do generally evaluate a one-size-fits-all concept, and do usually not distinguish between subgroups, treatment dose and delivery mode. For two main reasons, this approach will not reach the full potential of gait rehabilitation. First, non-pharmacological interventions (e.g., external cueing) can improve gait in certain patients, but have no effect or sometimes even exacerbate gait deficits in others. Second, the success and benefit of gait rehabilitation relies on therapy adherence and training intensity achieved, and multi-target therapy not tailored to the individual runs the risk of hitting nothing. Hence, to apply non-pharmacological interventions in an individualized and evidence-based manner, clinicians and therapists need to know which patient characteristics predict the efficacy of various training modes and what type of training delivery works best. Current evidence is not sufficient to develop such personalized rehabilitation programs. In this viewpoint, however, we describe how tailored use of gait rehabilitation can be reached within a 20-year time frame.

Keywords: Gait; Parkinson’s disease; balance; falls; freezing of gait; personalized medicine; physiotherapy; rehabilitation.

Fig. 1.

Potential factors influencing effectiveness of non-pharmacological intervention of gait impairments. Various domains that impact on gait deficits in Parkinson’s disease.