Article

Parkinson's disease is a relatively common progressive
neurodegenerative disorder, one of whose main features is difficulty with
walking. This can be partially corrected by providing cues for the placement of
each step. We piloted the potential benefit of simple custom-designed 'walking
glasses' worn by the patient that provide visual and auditory cues to aid in step
placement. DESIGN: We used a repeated measures design to compare gait performance
when unaided and when using the walking glasses with different patterns of visual
and auditory stimulation by timing patients' walking over a 'real-life'
predefined 30-m course. SETTING: Hospital outpatient clinic. SUBJECTS: Fifteen
patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease who had significant gait problems
and no other condition affecting gait performance. MAIN MEASURES: Timed walk.
RESULTS: Using the glasses, 8 of 15 patients achieved a significant and
meaningful average improvement in walking time of at least 10% (mean (95%
confidence interval) improvement in these patients was 21.5% (3.9%)), while a
further 2 had subjective and modest objective benefit. Different patterns of
visual and auditory cues suited different patients. Visual cueing alone with a
fixed horizontal cue line present all the time statistically resulted in the
greatest improvement in walking time. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study shows
promising improvement in the gait of a significant proportion of Parkinson's
disease patients through the use of a simple, inexpensive and robust design of
walking glasses, suggesting practical applicability in a therapy setting to large
numbers of such patients.

Langue : ANGLAIS