Article

Gait instability and fall risk are major concerns in Parkinson's
disease. This study shows that the temporal organization of gait variability can
represent a marker of gait instability that complements standard assessment of
motor deficits in Parkinson's disease. METHODS: Temporal organization (long-range
autocorrelation; LRA) of stride duration variability, collected from 20 persons
with Parkinson's disease walking overground at a comfortable speed, was studied.
The presence of LRA was based on the scaling properties of the series variability
and the shape of the power spectral density. Simultaneously, measures of
neurological impairment (MDS-UPDRS), balance (BESTest), and balance confidence
(ABC-Scale) were collected. To precisely identify the relationship between LRA
and functional measures, correlation coefficients were applied. RESULTS:
Degradation of LRA was strongly correlated with other clinical scores, in such a
way that the temporal organization of gait variability was more random for
patients presenting with greater motor impairments. Importantly, these measures
were relatively independent of age, and gait speed, thus they can be applied to a
wide clinical population. Conclusion: The findings of this study emphasize that
temporal organization of gait variability is related to degree of functional
impairment in Parkinson's disease. LRA may thus be regarded as an objective and
quantitative measure of gait stability for both clinical practice and research.

Langue : ANGLAIS