Does cognition affect supervised and unsupervised mobility differently in people with Parkinson's disease? A cross-sectional study.
Edoardo Bianchini, Francesco Garramone, Domiziana Rinaldi and 7 others
PMID 41580709WHAT IT FOUND
In 105 people with Parkinson's, longer time on a word-colour interference test went with slower clinic walking and fewer home steps.
After age, motor severity, sex and medication were included, cognition did not predict mobility.
Key findings
01Longer time on the Stroop interference test correlated weakly with slower forward walking speed, slower turning speed and slower backward walking speed.
02Longer Stroop interference time also correlated weakly with fewer average daily steps, while MoCA global cognition did not correlate with daily steps.
03In the adjusted model for turning speed, motor severity was the only significant predictor, and Stroop and MoCA were not significant.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The design was cross-sectional, so it cannot show whether cognitive change leads to mobility change or the reverse. Participants were limited to disease stage below 4 and MoCA score of 18 or higher, so the study does not address people with severe cognitive impairment or more advanced disability. Only global cognition and executive function were measured, so other cognitive domains such as visuospatial ability were not assessed. Daily steps came from a consumer smartwatch with a proprietary algorithm and no raw data access, so measurement may be less accurate than research-grade devices. Participants could view their step count, heart rate and sleep data on the watch, which may have changed activity during the five days. The study was done at one hospital centre and included only people able to perform the tasks, so it may not apply to all people with Parkinson's disease.
Declared interests
The named funders were Sapienza Università di Roma and Agence Nationale de la Recherche. The supplied text does not report author conflicts of interest or a disclosure list.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that cognitive training will improve walking speed or daily steps. This was a cross-sectional association study, and cognition stopped predicting mobility after age, sex, disease duration, medication dose and motor severity were included.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →