Objective: To investigate the effect of finger rhythmic movement (FRM) training on freezing of gait (FOG) in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients.

Background: External cues such as somatosensory, visual, and auditory perception are used in trainings to improve FOG in PD patients while they are standing or walking. However, falls occur frequently in PD patients while they are standing or walking, and the FOG symptoms vary depending on PD severity, thus making conventional training difficult. The freezing phenomenon in PD patients is seen during walking and in other movements such as finger movement, writing, and speech. Among these, a correlation exists between finger-tapping-task performance and FOG severity. Thus, the freezing phenomenon during FRM and FOG during walking may have similar mechanisms. Clarifying this aspect can lead to establishment of safe and convenient training method for patients with mild to severe PD, who have different FOG symptoms, that can be performed in the sitting position, with a low risk of falls.

Methods: We investigate FRM training effect on FOG in 20 patients with Hoehn and Yahr stage II – III PD, randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups. The intervention group performs FRM training (15 min/day, 3 times/week for 12 weeks) in addition to activities of daily living (ADL); the control group performs only ADL. In a sitting position, the participants perform FRM by moving the index and middle fingers alternately with an internal rhythm. To determine the training effect, acceleration and brain wave activity during FRM and walking ability (stride, cadence, and double supporting time) are measured pre- and post-training. Acceleration is measured using an accelerometer. Brain wave activity is measured via an electroencephalograph. Walking ability is measured via a WalkWay device. The effect of the training on outcomes is analyzed using mixed 2 × 2 [group (intervention and control) × time (pre- and post-test)] analysis of variance.

Results: This study will be completed in August 2018. Study results will be reported on the day of the congress.

Conclusions: The result shows that FRM training improves FOG in PD patients. FRM developed in this study may be widely applicable clinically as a safe and convenient method to improve FOG in PD patients.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/effect-of-finger-rhythmic-movement-training-on-freezing-of-gait-in-parkinsons-disease-patients-a-study-protocol/