Objective: Freezing of gait (FOG) is a disabling symptom in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). This study aims to investigate the differences in temporal gait parameters between early PD subjects and healthy controls, and between PD subjects with FOG (PD+FOG) and early PD cohort.

Background: Wearable sensors allow clinicians and researchers to objectively assess movements and analyse the gait disturbances in patients.

Methods: 137 subjects (Early PD=50, PD+FOG=25, Controls=62) were recruited from two large tertiary hospitals in Singapore. Subjects performed the 7-metre Timed Up and Go (7mTUG) while wearing the PDlogger, an in-house quantitative gait measuring device with inertia motion sensors worn over the ankles and the back of the neck. Temporal gait parameters such as stride time, angular velocity and cadence were recorded. FOG severity was expressed as the percentage of time in which FOG occurred (%FOG) in video recordings. Differences between groups were analysed using Kruskal-Wallis with post-hoc Mann-Whitney U test to further investigate inter-group statistical significance. Bivariate associations were conducted using Spearman’s rho to study the relationship between variables.

Results: There were significant differences (p<0.001) in stride time, angular velocity, cadence, and 7mTUG time across all 3 groups. Post-hoc analysis revealed a longer stride time (p<0.001), reduced cadence (p<0.001), longer 7mTUG time (p<0.001) and a higher angular velocity (p<0.001) in early PD compared to healthy controls. PD+FOG had shorter stride time (p<0.001), increased cadence (p<0.001), longer 7mTUG time (p<0.001), and reduced angular velocity (p<0.001) compared to early PD cohort. There were no significant differences in temporal gait parameters between PD+FOG and healthy controls, except for the 7mTUG time (p<0.001). The angular velocity was correlated with the UPDRS motor subscores for gait and balance in both early PD (rho= -0.417, p<0.01) and PD+FOG (rho= -0.785, p<0.01). The angular velocity decreased with increasing %FOG (rho= -0.642, p<0.01).

Conclusions: Early PD subjects demonstrated longer stride times, reduced cadence, and higher angular velocities compared to healthy controls. The angular velocities decreased with increasing disease severity and %FOG.

References: Hausdorff, J.M., Schaafsma, J.D., Balash, Y., Bartels, A.L., Guverich, T. & Giladi, N. (2003). Impaired regulation of stride variability in Parkinson’s disease subjects with freezing of gait. Exp Brain Res (149) 187-194. DOI: 10.1007/s00221-002-1354-8. Hausdorff J.M., Ladin Z. & Wei, J.Y. (1995). Footswitch system for measurement of the temporal parameters of gait. J Biomech (28) 347-351. Morris, M. Iansek, R., Matyas, T. & Summers, J. (1998). Abnormalities in the stride length-cadence relation in parkinsonian gait. Movement Disorder (13) 61-69.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/temporal-gait-parameters-in-parkinsons-disease-a-study-using-pdlogger-a-quantitative-gait-measuring-device/