Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCSS, Rome, Italy; Department of Geriatrics, Neurosciences and Orthopaedics, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168 Rome, Italy.
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
Clin Neurophysiol. 2019 Oct;130(10):1789-1797. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2019.07.013. Epub 2019 Jul 25.
Gait impairment is a highly disabling symptom for Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. Rhythmic auditory stimulation (RAS), has shown to improve spatio-temporal gait parameters in PD, but only a few studies have focused on their effects on gait kinematics, and the ideal stimulation frequency has still not been identified.
We enrolled 30 PD patients and 18 controls. Patients were evaluated under two conditions (with (ON), and without (OFF) medications) with three different RAS frequencies (90%, 100%, and 110% of the patient's preferred walking cadence). Spatial-temporal parameters, joint angles and gait phases distribution were evaluated. A novel global index (GPQI) was used to quantify the difference in gait phase distribution.
Along with benefits in spatial-temporal parameters, GPQI improved significantly with RAS at a frequency of 110% for both ON and OFF medication conditions. In the most severe patients, the same result was observed also with RAS at 100%.
RAS administration, at a frequency of 110% of the preferred walking frequency, can be beneficial in improving the gait pattern in PD patients.
When rhythmic auditory stimulation is provided to patients with PD, the selection of an adequate frequency of stimulation can optimize their effects on gait pattern.
步态障碍是帕金森病（PD）患者高度致残的症状。节律性听觉刺激（RAS）已被证明可改善 PD 患者的时空步态参数，但只有少数研究关注其对步态运动学的影响，且仍未确定理想的刺激频率。
我们纳入了 30 名 PD 患者和 18 名对照者。患者在两种状态（服药时[ON]和停药时[OFF]）下接受三种不同 RAS 频率（患者首选行走步频的 90%、100%和 110%）的评估。评估时空参数、关节角度和步态相位分布。使用一种新的全局指数（GPQI）来量化步态相位分布的差异。
随着时空参数的改善，当 RAS 频率为 110%时，ON 和 OFF 两种用药状态下的 GPQI 均显著改善。在病情最严重的患者中，当 RAS 频率为 100%时也观察到了相同的结果。
以患者首选行走频率的 110%的频率进行节律性听觉刺激，对改善 PD 患者的步态模式有益。
当向 PD 患者提供节律性听觉刺激时，选择适当的刺激频率可以优化其对步态模式的影响。
