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
. 2022 Sep;164(9):2367-2373.
doi: 10.1007/s00701-022-05309-4. Epub 2022 Jul 13.

Gait, falls, cognitive function, and health-related quality of life after shunt-treated idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus-a single-center study

Caroline Hallqvist  1 , Helena Grönstedt  1 , Lisa Arvidsson  2   3
Affiliations

Gait, falls, cognitive function, and health-related quality of life after shunt-treated idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus-a single-center study

Caroline Hallqvist et al. Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2022 Sep.

Abstract

Background: Normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) is a neurological disorder, characterized by gait- and balance disturbance, cognitive deterioration, and urinary incontinence, combined with ventricular enlargement. Gait ability, falls, cognitive status, and health-related quality of life pre and post surgery have not previously been studied at Karolinska University Hospital.

Methods: One hundred and eighteen patients with iNPH that underwent shunt surgery at Karolinska University Hospital during the years from 2016 to 2018 were included. Results of walking tests, test for cognitive function, and self-estimated health-related quality of life, before and 3 months after surgery, were collected retrospectively as a single-center study.

Results: Walking ability, cognitive function, and health-related quality of life significantly increased 3 months after shunt surgery. A positive significant correlation was seen between a higher self-estimated quality of life and walking ability.

Conclusions: Patients with suspected iNPH treated with shunt surgery at Karolinska University Hospital improved their walking ability and cognitive functioning 3 months after shunt surgery. A positive significant correlation was seen between a higher self-estimated quality of life and walking ability but not with increased cognitive function. We then concluded that the selection of patients for shunting maintained a high standard.

Keywords: Cognition; Falls; Gait ability; Health-related quality of life; Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus; Shunt surgery.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Study flowchart
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Adams RD, Fisher CM, Hakim S, Ojemann RG, Sweet WH. Symptomatic occult hydrocephalus with normal cerebrospinal-fluid pressure. N Engl J Med. 1965;273:117–126. doi: 10.1056/NEJM196507152730301. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Agerskov S, Hellström P, Andrén K, Kollén L, Wikkelsö C, Tullberg M. The phenotype of idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus—a single-center study of 429 patients. J Neurol Sci. 2018;391:54–60. doi: 10.1016/j.jns.2018.05.022. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Baltateanu D, Ciobanu I, Berteanu M. The effects of ventriculoperitoneal shunt on gait performance. J Med Life. 2019;12:194–198. doi: 10.25122/jml-2019-1004. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bohannon RW. Comfortable and maximum walking speed of adults aged 20–79 years: reference values and determinants. Age Ageing. 1997;26:15–19. doi: 10.1093/ageing/26.1.15. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bohannon RW. Reference values for the timed up and go test: a descriptive meta-analysis. J Geriatr Phys Ther. 2006;29:64–68. doi: 10.1519/00139143-200608000-00004. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources