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Gait Assessment (gait + assessment)
Selected AbstractsREM sleep behavior disorder is not linked to postural instability and gait dysfunction in Parkinson,MOVEMENT DISORDERS, Issue 11 2010David H. Benninger MD Abstract To evaluate a potential association of REM-sleep behavior disorder (RBD) with gait and postural impairment in Parkinson's disease (PD). Gait difficulties and postural impairment are frequent in PD and are a major cause of disability. Animal studies indicate a key role of the pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN) in gait, postural control, and REM sleep, and also in the pathophysiology of RBD. In humans, such an association has not been investigated. Twenty-six patients with mild-to-moderate PD (13 with polysomnography confirmed and 13 with excluded RBD), and 20 age-matched healthy controls were prospectively investigated. Gait assessment on a treadmill, and static and dynamic posturography were performed. PD patients with RBD do not differ from those without RBD in gait and postural control. Greater severity of PD or prevalence of gait and postural disturbances in the presence of RBD were not found. RBD was not associated with any particular motor phenotype. We found no association of RBD with gait disturbances and postural impairment. Human gait and postural control and RBD appear to depend upon different neuronal circuits. © 2010 Movement Disorder Society [source] Reliability and validity of the Observational Gait Scale in children with spastic diplegiaDEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & CHILD NEUROLOGY, Issue 1 2003Anna H Mackey MS PT The aim of this study was to establish the reliability and validity of visual gait assessment in children with spastic diplegia, who were community or household ambulators, using a modified version of the Physicians Rating Scale, known as the Observational Gait Scale (OGS). Two clinicians viewed edited split-screen video recordings of 20 children/adolescents (11 males, 9 females; mean age 12 years, range 6 to 21 years) made at the time of three-dimensional gait analysis (3-DGA). Walking ability in each child was scored at initial assessment and reassessed from the same videos three months later using the first seven sections of the OGS. Validity of the OGS score was determined by comparison with 3-DGA. The OGS was found to have acceptable interrater and intrarater reliability for knee and foot position in mid-stance, initial foot contact, and heel rise with weighted kappas (wk) ranging from 0.53 to 0.91 (intrarater) and 0.43 to 0.86 (interrater). Comparison with 3-DGA suggests that these sections might also have high validity(wk range 0.38,0.94). Base of support and hind foot position had lower interrater and intrarater reliabilities (wk 0.29 to 0.71 and wk 0.30 to 0.78 respectively) and were not easily validated by 3-DGA. [source] Age-related white matter lesions are associated with reduction of the apparent diffusion coefficient in the cerebellumEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY, Issue 9 2007P. Bugalho Cerebellar apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) was found to be increased after acute cerebral hemispheric stroke. There are no data on cerebellar ADC changes in patients with chronic, age-related white matter lesions (ARWML). We aimed to determine longitudinal ADC variations on cerebral hemispheric and cerebellar white matter regions of patients with ARWML in order to study relations between ADC changes in both regions. ADC was measured serially (1-year interval) on lesioned periventricular frontal white matter, frontal and parietoccipital normal appearing white matter and middle cerebellar peduncles, on 19 aged patients with ARWML, which also underwent gait assessment. We compared regional ADC at 0 and 1 year and calculated variation percentages for each region. Correlation analysis was made between ADC variation in cerebellar regions and in contralateral hemispheric regions and between cerebellar ADC at 1 year and walking speed. After 1 year, ADC was higher on lesioned periventricular frontal white matter and lower on cerebellar regions. ADC variations on these regions were negatively correlated. Cerebellar ADC measured after 1 year was positively correlated with walking speed. This suggests a link between vascular disease progression inside frontal lesions and ADC reduction in contralateral cerebellar peduncles. Chronic ischemia in frontal white matter could have interrupted frontal-cerebellar circuits, producing hypometabolism in cerebellar regions (and worse performance on motor tasks), decreased perfusion and hence ADC reduction. [source] Cognitive and Mobility Profile of Older Social DancersJOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 8 2006Joe Verghese MD OBJECTIVES: To define the cognitive and physical attributes of regular social dancing so as to help establish its health benefits and help plan future dance interventions to prevent adverse outcomes in older adults such as falls, slow gait, and dementia. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey with two-group comparison. SETTING: Bronx County, New York. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-four cognitively normal older social dancers (OSDs) were compared with 84 age-, sex-, and education-matched older nondancers (ONDs) participating in a community-based study. MEASUREMENTS: Motor and cognitive performance was assessed using validated clinical and quantitative methods. RESULTS: There were no differences in the frequency of participation in other cognitive and physical leisure activities, chronic illnesses, or falls between OSDs and ONDs. Cognitive test performance was not different between OSDs and ONDs. OSDs had better balance but not strength than ONDs. OSDs had a longer mean stride±standard deviation than ONDs (117.8±10.5 cm vs 103.4±20.2 cm, P=.008) on quantitative gait assessment, with a more stable pattern during walking with reduced stance time (63.9% vs 65.9%, P=.01), longer swing time (36.1% vs 34.1%, P=.01), and shorter double support time (27.9% vs 30.9%, P=.03). CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that long-term social dancing may be associated with better balance and gait in older adults. [source] | ||||||||||