
With increasing life expectancy, the prevalence of chronic neurodegenerative diseases increases. Among these diseases, the second most prevalent is Parkinson's disease. Parkinson's disease is a chronic and progressive disorder of the nervous system that leads to the death of dopamine-producing neurons. Symptoms of Parkinson's disease include rigidity, postural instability, akinesia, bradykinesia, and tremor, as well as gait changes.
ObjectivesTo analyze the correlation between Parkinson's disease staging and kinematic parameters of gait in people with Parkinson's disease.
MethodsFifteen patients diagnosed with Parkinson's disease participated in the study. Data collection was performed in a single visit to the collection environment. The Hoehn and Yahr scale and the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) were used and applied during the intervention. Kinematics were assessed by the following parameters: gait speed, stride length, support time, swing, single support, double support, and stride. The variability of these parameters was calculated using the mean of the standard deviation. Pearson's correlation test was used to correlate disease staging and gait kinematic parameters. The significance level was set at p < 0.05.
ResultsAssociations were found between gait speed and disease stage (p < 0.001 and r = -0.943), stance time and disease stage (p < 0.001 and r = 0.933), disease stage and stride time (p < 0.001 and r = 0.966), disease stage and stance time variability (p = 0.01 and r = 0.785) and disease stage and swing time variability (p < 0.016 and r = 0.766) and disease stage and stride time variability (p < 0.016 and r = 0.0761).
ConclusionAs the stages of Parkinson's disease progress, the occurrence of gait abnormalities increases in individuals with the disease, such as reduced speed, increased support and stride time, and increased variability in the temporal kinematic parameters of gait, which may increase the risk of early fatigue and falls in these individuals.
ImplicationsThe main limitation of the present study is the low n-sample. Rehabilitation through strengthening of key gait muscles has been shown to be the main precursor to reducing falls and early fatigue.
Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Funding: PIBIC – FAP.
Ethics committee approval: No. 7.101.762.
Registration: Not applicable.
										
				