http://www.frontiersin.org/neuroscience/agingneuroscience/paper/10.3389/fnagi.2010.00024/

Vollständiger Abstract

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<h4>Introduction</h4>Turning is a complex locomotor task that can accentuate gait impairments and precipitate freezing of gait (FOG) in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, gait-derived spatiotemporal parameters during inter-episodic turning remain incompletely characterized. We compared turning-related gait patterns among healthy older adults, patients with PD without FOG, and patients with PD and a history of FOG.<h4>Methods</h4>Ten healthy older controls, 10 patients with PD without FOG (PD-P), and 10 patients with PD and FOG (FOG-P) performed 90°, 180°, and 360° turns while undergoing optical motion capture. Spatiotemporal gait parameters were analyzed using Bayesian generalized linear models. Trials containing observable FOG episodes were excluded; consequently, the analyses represent inter-episodic turning rather than freezing episodes themselves.<h4>Results</h4>Compared with controls, PD-P participants demonstrated reduced stride width of the internal leg and increased stride width of the external leg, whereas FOG-P participants demonstrated shorter step and stride lengths. Both PD groups predominantly used step-out or mixed turning strategies and required more time and steps to complete larger-amplitude turns.<h4>Discussion</h4>Gait-derived spatial parameters during turning differed between the PD groups. PD-P participants showed more pronounced mediolateral foot-placement differences, whereas FOG-P participants showed more pronounced reductions in anteroposterior step and stride length. Because the groups differed in overall motor severity and the analyses were intentionally restricted to inter-episodic turning, these findings should be interpreted as descriptive turning gait patterns in patients with a history of FOG rather than as evidence of FOG-specific mechanisms.

Abstract: PubMed · Datensatz