Immediate effect of rhythmic auditory stimulation on the spatio-temporal parameters of gait in old people: a pilot study

Abstract Objectives Evaluate the immediate effect of rhythmic auditory stimulation (RAS) with music on the spatio-temporal parameters of gait in sedentary old people and analyze possible interactions with episodes of falls. Methods Pilot intervention study with sedentary old people (n= 15), age ≥60 years, both sexes, independent in gait. Additionally, participants were divided into two groups, fallers (n= 5) and non-fallers (n= 10), based on the history of falls in the last year. The evaluation of the spatio-temporal parameters of the gait was performed using the 10-meter walk test performed with free walking (T0), repeated with RAS with music (T1), and without RAS again (T2). For data analysis, repeated measures ANOVA and two-way ANOVA were used for comparison between groups, with Tukey’s post hoc. The effect size of the intervention was also calculated. Results There was a significant reduction in time and number of steps and an increase in walking speed (p<0.0001; with great effect) between moments T0-T1 and T0-T2. Both the faller and non-fallers groups showed a significant reduction in time and number of steps (p<0.0001) and an increase in speed (p<0.0001), but only in the cadence variable was there an effect of the group and of time and group interaction. Conclusion There was an immediate positive effect of the use of RAS on the space-time parameters of gait in sedentary old people, with a greater effect on the cadence of non-falling old people.