The Effect of High-Volume Walking With Visual Cues (VC) in Parkinson´s Disease (PD)

The Effect of High-Volume Walking With Visual Cues on Gait in People With Parkinson´s Disease. A Randomized Controlled Trial

People with disease (PD) tend to walk with short steps, decreased velocity, and increased stride time variability. Short steps and increased variability are related to greater fall risk. In addition, concurrent performance of a cognitive task (dual-task (DT)) has marked effects on gait in people with PD which is considered to reflect an impaired automaticity of gait.

Objective: To investigate short and long term effects of high-volume walking with visual spatial cues (VSC) on gait variables, automaticity, and functional mobility, in people with Parkinson´s Disease (PD), compared with walking without VSC.

Inclusion Criteria:

• a confirmed diagnosis of PD according to the UK Parkinson´s Disease Society Brain Bank Clinical Diagnostic Criteria (18)
• <80 years of age
• community residing
• Hoehn and Yahr (HY) stage 2-3
• Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of >23
• ability to walk without walking aids for a total of 20 minutes over a 30-minute period

Exclusion Criteria:

• major modifications of Parkinson´s medication (Madopar >200 mg/d or >20% increase in Dopamine agonists) 3 weeks prior to baseline assessment
• comorbidities or disabilities, which might influence walking
• a history of brain surgery