Abstract
Rhythmic auditory cueing has been widely used in gait rehabilitation over the past decade. The entrainment effect has been suggested to introduce neurophysiological changes, alleviate auditory-motor coupling and reduce cognitive-motor interferences. However, a consensus as to its influence over aging gait is still warranted. A systematic review and meta-analysis was carried out to analyze the effects of rhythmic auditory cueing on spatiotemporal gait parameters among healthy young and elderly participants. This systematic identification of published literature was performed according to PRISMA guidelines, from inception until May 2017, on online databases: Web of science, PEDro, EBSCO, MEDLINE, Cochrane, EMBASE, and PROQUEST. Studies were critically appraised using PEDro scale. Of 2789 records, 34 studies, involving 854 (499 young/355 elderly) participants met our inclusion criteria. The meta-analysis revealed enhancements in spatiotemporal parameters of gait i.e. gait velocity (Hedge’s g: 0.85), stride length (0.61), and cadence (1.1), amongst both age groups. This review, for the first time, evaluates the effects of auditory entrainment on aging gait and discusses its implications under higher and lower information processing constraints. Clinical implications are discussed with respect to applications of auditory entrainment in rehabilitation settings.
Highlights
Higher prevalence to fall with aging is a matter of concern for medical practitioners [1,2,3]
The primary objective of this present systematic review and meta-analysis was to synthesize the current state of knowledge for effects that rhythmic auditory cueing might lay over aging gait
Out of thirty-four included studies, 88% studies reported beneficial effects of rhythmic auditory cueing on primary spatiotemporal gait parameters
Summary
Higher prevalence to fall with aging is a matter of concern for medical practitioners [1,2,3]. Et al [23], for instance, suggested a reduction in self-confidence with aging, and history of falls often leading to a peculiar “fear of falling” [29, 30] This “fear” has been reported to modify the stability during static, and dynamic postures [9, 31, 32]. Van den Hoorn, Moorcroft, Greenland and Hodges [41] reported texting and reading while walking (common among youngsters) to adversely impact gait stability [42], by increasing cognitive-motor interferences [43] Such higher attentional constraints predisposing to falls might possess serious life-threatening consequences under “high-stress” environments [8, 44], for both younger and elderly age groups. Thereby, strongly warranting the need for such economical, and efficient rehabilitation techniques
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