Faithin Omaha eBook Collection

Download or read book Dynamic balance during preferred and fast-paced walking in individuals with and without Parkinson's Disease written by Ashley Rodriquez and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: INTRODUCTION: Falls are a frequent problem for individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Functional implications associated with these falls suggest a need for further research in the area of gait and dynamic balance associated with PD. To date, few studies have investigated dynamic balance with variables such as the margin of stability and center of mass (COM) velocity, much less in individuals with PD. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare dynamic balance during normal and fast-paced walking between individuals with PD and healthy controls. METHODS: Prospective cohort study. Subjects: Fourteen subjects with PD (5 females, 9 males; mean age, 68.1 + 7.8 years) were included in this study as well as age-and gender-matched control subjects (CS) (5 females,9 males; mean age, 66.1 + 9.7 years). Methods/Procedures: Participants walked across a 10-m level walkway using normal- and fast-paced walking speeds. Eight MX-T40 cameras (120 Hz), Nexus motion capture software (Vicon Motion System Ltd., Oxford Metrics, UK), three AMTI (Advanced Mechanical Technology Inc., Watertown, MA) force plates, and Vicon Nexus 2.5 software were used to collect kinetic and kinematic data. The full body Plug-In Gait (PIG) model marker set was used. The mediolateral (M/L) extrapolated COM to center of pressure (COP) distance (XCOM_COP M/L), the M/L inclination angle (COM_COP M/L angle), and M/L extrapolated COM to margin of stability distance (MoS M/L) were used to determine whether a difference in dynamic balance exists between the PD group and CS at loading response (LR) and mid-stance (MS). Statistical analysis: A repeated measures ANOVA was performed to test for group condition main effects on dependent variables. Significance was set at a=0.05. RESULTS: Condition main effects were found for XCOM_COP M/L and COM_COP M/L angle at LR and MS for pace, with a greater mean distance and angle, respectively, during fast pace compared to normal pace. A condition main effect was found for MoS M/L at MS for pace, with a greater mean distance during fast paced walking. A between groups main effect was found for COM_COP M/L angle at MS, with the CS demonstrating a larger mean angle than the PD group. DISCUSSION: The current results indicate that high functioning individuals with PD do not display many significant differences in dynamic balance variables when compared to a matched CS. This could be a result of gait compensations that have developed over time to improve the perceived stability of those with PD, such as maintaining the COM close to the COP. Previous research on these variables is conflicting and not definitive in this population. CONCLUSION: Mild differences in these variables between groups suggest even minimally involved individuals with PD could benefit from early exercise intervention to improve balance. Further research should focus on individuals with more advanced PD and analysis of the current variables with more challenging dynamic balance tasks.