Non-motor impairments affect walking kinematics in Parkinson disease patients: A cross-sectional study.
Sara Liguori, Antimo Moretti, Angela Palomba and 6 others
PMID 34420985WHAT IT FOUND
In early Parkinson's disease, higher fatigue and pain levels correlated with slower walking and longer Timed Up and Go times.
Patients with mild cognitive impairment reported worse pain and fatigue than those without, though walking speed did not differ between the groups.
Key findings
01Fatigue showed moderate to strong positive correlations with gait duration, TUG, and TUGdt, indicating that higher fatigue is associated with slower walking and longer test times.
02Pain showed moderate positive correlations with gait duration and TUGdt, suggesting pain contributes to slower walking performance.
03Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) reported significantly worse scores for pain and fatigue compared to those without MCI, despite no significant difference in gait speed between the groups.
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 study included only 26 participants, which limits the reliability of the findings. Participants were selected based on strict criteria (early stage, 'OFF' medication state), meaning the results may not apply to patients with advanced disease or those in their typical 'ON' medication state. The sample underrepresented women (8 of 26), which is a concern given that depression and other symptoms may present differently by gender. As a cross-sectional study, it cannot determine whether non-motor symptoms cause walking changes or if they simply co-occur.
Declared interests
No conflicts of interest or funding sources were reported in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that cognitive impairment directly causes slower walking speed in early Parkinson's disease. The study found no significant difference in gait speed between patients with and without Mild Cognitive Impairment, only differences in pain, fatigue, and total gait duration.