Efeitos do estímulo acústico rítmico na marcha de pacientes com Doença de Parkinson

Abstract

Objective. To determine which gait parameters is more affected by the use of Rhythmic Auditory Cue (RAC) in patients with Parkinson’s Disease. Method. 21 patients with a diagnosis of PD were evaluated, with a mean age of 69±11.6, by a 10 meter gait test at two situations: unaided walking and with the aid of RAC calculated at 10% above the preferred gait. Cadence, stride length and gait speed were compared using the coefficient of variation. Test T for dependent variables was used considering a significance level of 5% for all analyzes. Results. We found a difference between unaided walking and walking with RAC for the variables: gait speed (p<0.001), cadence (p<0.001) and stride length (p=0.015), with higher values for walking with RAC compared to unaided walking. The calculation of the coefficient of variation showed greater variation in the speed (9.6%) parameter compared to cadence (5.3%) and step length (4.3%). Conclusion. the use of RAC in 10% above the preferred gait leads to an increase in gait parameters with the greatest change in speed gait in comparison to the cadence and stride length in people with PD.