Regularity of kinematic data between single and dual-task treadmill walking in people with Parkinson's disease.
Samira Ahmadi, Tarique Siragy, Julie Nantel
PMID 33526049WHAT IT FOUND
In people with Parkinson’s disease, walking while naming words was associated with less predictable trunk and center-of-gravity movement, especially side to side.
This was a lab measurement, not a clinical test or treatment result.
Key findings
01When a larger time delay than one was used, SampEn increased significantly from single-task to dual-task walking in least-affected thigh angular velocity in the anteroposterior direction, most-affected shank angular velocity in the anteroposterior direction, center-of-gravity linear acceleration in the mediolateral direction, and sternum linear acceleration in the mediolateral and vertical directions.
02The complexity index increased significantly with dual-task walking in foot, shank, and thigh angular velocity in the anteroposterior and vertical directions, center-of-gravity linear acceleration in all three directions, and sternum linear acceleration in the mediolateral and vertical directions.
03With a time delay of one, single-scale SampEn showed no significant change from single-task to dual-task walking except for vertical most-affected foot angular velocity, where it increased.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only 17 of 20 recruited participants were analysed, and there was no healthy control group. Participants were between Hoehn and Yahr stage I and III, were optimally medicated, and the study excluded people who could only walk with a walking aid. The study used treadmill walking, not overground community walking. The word-search task was not very challenging: 12 of 17 participants called out all 12 words, and the remaining 5 participants called out a mean of 10 words. Many signals, directions, and entropy approaches were compared, so the findings need confirmation in a focused clinical test. Head rotations during the word task were not examined as a possible influence on movement signals.
Declared interests
Funded by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and Ontario Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that this measure predicts falls or should be used clinically. It was tested in 17 people with Parkinson’s disease on a treadmill, not in a larger clinical sample, and it did not test falls, a treatment, or a clinical decision.