Variability during gait with obstacle in elderly with Parkinson's Disease

Abstract

The death of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra leads to the signs and symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). Gait changes are commom in this population, such as changing in the variability on spatial and temporal parameters of gait. The variability of these parameters could be correlated with a higher rate of falls in this population and could identify potential fallers. The objective of the study is to assess the variability of the spatial and temporal parameters of walking in patients with PD during obstacle avoidance and identify predictors of falls in elderly people with PD and neurologically healthy elderly people. Seventy eight elderly (39 patients with PD and 39 neurologically healthy elderly) will be participating in this study. All participants will be recruited from the community where the study will be conducted. The task will be walking on a pathway with 8 meters long at preferred speed. The obstacle will be positioned in the center of the pathway during the conditions of adaptive walk. For acquisition of gait parameters it will be used an optoelectronic device of motion analysis (Optotrack®) and a fitted with sensors of pressure (GAITrite ®). In addition, two force platforms (AMTI ®) will be placed on the platform for the acquisition of the kinetic parameters. MANOVAs will be employed with factor for group and task to help answer the questions of the study. The predictors of falls in these populations will be determinated by using the ROC analysis. (AU)