Improving gait in Parkinson's Disease
Gait abnormalities are associated with trips and falls and trip risk related to toe clearance during swing. This observational study compared changes in toe clearance in ten subjects with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) who had mild gait disturbances and ten age matched healthy elderly (HE) during single and dual-task walking and focussed heel strike.
Results demonstrated PD subjects had reduced foot strike angle and toe clearance during the end phase of swing when compared to HE during all walking conditions. During focussed heel strike walking improvements were observed in foot strike angle and toe clearance during end swing in both groups.
The results highlight potential benefits of employing rehab strategies focussed on heel strike to address impairments in toe clearance and foot strike seen in PD to reduce risk of trips and falls. The authors conclude the need for further research to determine if changes in heel strike pattern can be transferred into automatic mobility and a larger sample size.
> From: Ginis et al., Physiotherapy 103 (2017-12-08 05:37:49) 485-490. All rights reserved to Elsevier Ltd. Click here for the online summary.
