Positive effects of auditory cue in locomotor pattern of people with Parkinson’s disease (off and on medication)

Gait disorders are identified in people with Parkinson’s disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of auditory cues and medication on kinematic, kinetic and EMG parameters, during different gait phases of people with PD and healthy elderly. Thirty subjects distributed in two groups (Group 1, PD patients off and on medication; Group 2, healthy elderly) participated in this study and were instructed to walk in two experimental conditions: non-cued and cued. Therefore, kinematic, kinetic and electromyography analyses were utilized to investigate the locomotor pattern. Changes in locomotor pattern (greater muscular activity) with auditory cue were observed for PD patients. Regarding the medication, locomotor parameter improvement was observed after levodopa intake in association with the auditory cue. These results confirm the hypothesis about the external cues therapy that could be used as a complement to drug therapy to achieve improvement in the locomotor pattern of PD patients.

帕金森病（Parkinson’s disease, PD）患者常出现步态障碍（gait disorders）。本研究旨在探讨听觉提示（auditory cues）与药物治疗对帕金森病患者及健康老年人不同步态阶段的运动学（kinematic）、动力学（kinetic）及肌电图（Electromyography, EMG）参数的影响。本研究共纳入30名受试者，分为两组：第1组为分别处于停药与服药状态的帕金森病患者，第2组为健康老年人；所有受试者均需在两种实验条件下完成行走任务：无听觉提示条件与有听觉提示条件。因此，本研究采用运动学、动力学及肌电图分析方法对受试者的运动模式进行探究。研究观察到，听觉提示可使帕金森病患者的运动模式发生改变，具体表现为肌肉活动度提升。关于药物治疗，在联合使用听觉提示的前提下，帕金森病患者在服用左旋多巴（levodopa）后，其运动参数得到显著改善。本研究结果验证了相关假说：外部提示疗法可作为药物治疗的辅助手段，用以改善帕金森病患者的运动模式。