Abstract
Disturbances of gait occur in all stages of Huntington’s disease (HD) including the premanifest and prodromal stages. Individuals with HD demonstrate the slower speed of gait, shorter stride length, and increased variability of gait parameters as compared to controls; cognitive disturbances in HD often compound these differences. Abnormalities of gait and recurrent falls lead to decreased quality of life for individuals with HD throughout the disease. This scoping review aims to outline the cross-disciplinary approach to gait evaluation in HD and will highlight the utility of objective measures in defining gait abnormalities in this patient population.
Highlights
Edited by: Egon Perilli, Flinders University, AustraliaReviewed by: Fu-Lien Wu, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, United StatesJan Roth, Charles University, CzechiaSpecialty section: This article was submitted to Biomechanics, a section of the journal Frontiers in Bioengineering and BiotechnologyReceived: 17 February 2021 Accepted: 28 June 2021 Published: 27 July 2021Citation: Talman LS and Hiller AL (2021) Approach to Posture and Gait in Huntington’s Disease
Decreased gait speed in the cognitive DT condition was associated with an increased total motor score (TMS) on the Unified Huntington Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) and poorer performance on verbal fluency, Stroop, and the Symbol Digit Modality Test (SDMT) (Delval et al, 2008)
A more recent study from the same group of researchers further explored the effect of dual-task conditions on mobility by comparing gait measures during three 2-min walk tests under single task, fast as possible, and dual-task conditions using the Mobility Lab software and Opal wearable sensors (OpalTM, APDM, Inc., Portland, OR, United States)
Summary
Reviewed by: Fu-Lien Wu, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, United States. Specialty section: This article was submitted to Biomechanics, a section of the journal Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology. Though adult-onset HD is often recognized by the presence of hyperkinetic movements, namely chorea, individuals with HD experience impairment involuntary control of movement including bradykinesia, motor impersistence, loss of postural reflexes, and ataxia This loss of voluntary motor control is often more functionally disabling than the presence of chorea (Hart et al, 2013). Using a PubMed search with terms including “Huntington’s disease, sensors, gait, posture, multi-disciplinary,” articles presented in this review were selected based on publication date with those published in the prior 10 years prioritized. The purpose of this scoping review is not to present a comprehensive discussion of all available literature but rather to synthesize existing knowledge and highlight the need for future research (Colquhoun et al, 2014)
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