Chong R K, Barbas J, Garrison K, Herolz A, Teheng R, Sethi K
Department of Physical Therapy, Medical College of Georgia, CH-100, Augusta, GA, USA.
Int J Clin Pract. 2001 Jul-Aug;55(6):411-2.
Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) walk slowly, in part to compensate for their balance control deficit. We tested the effect of balance support to determine if walking performance in PD patients would improve. The sample consisted of unmedicated older adults with idiopathic Parkinson's disease who had poor balance control but no stooped posture, arthritis or muscle weakness. There was no difference in walking speed between unsupported and supported walking. The speeds were between those reported for disease-free older adults and older adults with muscle weakness and a history of falling. PD patients' walking difficulties, even while using a balance aid, may be partly explained by their set-changing problems. They frequently hold the cane off the ground when walking, suggesting their set-changing difficulty may be severe enough that using it aggravates their walking difficulty. Treatment of walking difficulty in PD patients should consider interventions other than those dealing only with balance control.
帕金森病（PD）患者行走缓慢，部分原因是为了补偿其平衡控制缺陷。我们测试了平衡支持的效果，以确定PD患者的行走表现是否会改善。样本包括未用药的特发性帕金森病老年患者，他们平衡控制能力差，但没有驼背姿势、关节炎或肌肉无力。无支撑行走和有支撑行走之间的步行速度没有差异。这些速度介于无疾病的老年人以及有肌肉无力和跌倒史的老年人所报告的速度之间。即使使用平衡辅助工具，PD患者的行走困难可能部分归因于他们的换步问题。他们行走时经常将拐杖抬离地面，这表明他们的换步困难可能严重到使用拐杖会加剧他们的行走困难。治疗PD患者的行走困难应考虑除仅处理平衡控制之外的其他干预措施。
