Cueing Effect of Gait Ability in Parkinson’s Disease

Abstract

Abnormal gait patterns are commonly found in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). These often consist of short shuffling steps, decreased walking speed, increased cadence and freezing of gait. External cues have been tested for improving gait ability in patients with PD. Advanced rehabilitation techniques have been evidenced over the years: these included treadmill walking, direct current stimulation, transcranial magnetic stimulation and ground training with cues. Traditionally, visual cues had been used in the form of a series of strips located on the floor in transverse lines for the patient to walk over and pole striding which has been shown to reduce gait variability. In addition, laser guided-walking cues have been proposed which can be in the form of goggles with a light emitting diode (LED), laser guided-walking cane, or a laser-assisted device (LAD).