Objective: To evaluate the effect of home-based interactive videogame step training on gait adaptability performance in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD).

Background: The ability to adjust gait is crucial when performing daily living activities such as crossing a busy street or avoiding obstacles. In people with PD, limited motor and cognitive functions may lead to poor gait adaptability which might contribute to the increased occurrence of falls in this population.

Methods: We conducted a randomised controlled trial comparing home-based step training with control (no-intervention). Intervention group (IG) participants played a step game three times a week for 15 minutes each session for 12 weeks. Forty-six people with PD (Hoehn and Yahr stage 1 to 3; mean±SD age: 66±6 years) were randomly allocated to the intervention or control group. Gait adaptability performance was assessed at baseline and 12- week follow-up. This assessment entailed participants initially completing three usual gait speed trials. They then completed the following randomly presented gait adaptability trials: obstacle avoidance, short stepping target, long stepping target and no target/obstacle (three trials of each). Difference scores between obstacle/target trials and no target/obstacle trials were calculated.

Results: Analyses of covariance (with baseline measures as the covariates) revealed IG and control participants did not differ in usual walking speed at the 12 -week follow-up. However, compared with controls, IG participants exhibited increased previous step velocity (p<0.05) in the long target condition at the 12-week retest. They also showed trends for reduced double support time (p=0.057) and increased previous step length (p=0.096) in the long target condition and increased velocity of the target step in the short target condition (p=0.093).

Conclusions: The findings indicate a-home-based interactive videogame step training improves ability to adapt gait in response to unpredictable stepping targets in people with PD. Specifically, the step training improved gait adjustments related to precision steps (target conditions) but not obstacle avoidance performance. Strategies for improving gait adaptability may assist the efficacy of fall prevention programs in people with PD.

« Back to 2016 International Congress

MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/effects-of-videogame-step-training-on-gait-adaptability-in-people-with-parkinsons-disease-a-randomized-controlled-trial/