Abstract
BackgroundPostural instability and balance problems in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) can seriously affect the quality of life and lead to falls with a subsequent increase in the morbidity and mortality. Early identification of gait dysfunction in early stages of PD establishes an effective therapy, prevention of the falls and reducing health care costs. This work aimed to detect gait disorders in patients with PD using the functional gait assessment (FGA) scale and to correlate it with the disease severity in Egyptian PD patients. This is a case–control study in which 40 patients with PD were recruited from the Involuntary Movement Clinic at Alexandria University El-Hadara Hspoital; 20 patients had early stages of PD (Hoehn Yahr stages 1 and 2) and 20 patients had advanced PD (Hoehn Yahr stages 3 and 4). Another 20 subjects were recruited as controls. All recruited subjects underwent gait assessment using FGA scale.ResultsGait analysis using FGA showed significant differences (P < 0.001) between the recruited PD patients and the control group. Upon comparing the early and advanced PD patients’ groups, certain items in the FGA (gait with pivot turn, step over obstacle, gait with eyes closed and backward gait) together with time consumed for 6-m walk with eyes open and close showed significant statistical differences between early and advanced PD patients. The patients’ duration of illness with PD was reversely correlated with the total FGA score.ConclusionThe FGA scale was strongly influenced by the duration of PD among the Egyptian patients and can potentially detect early stages of PD.
Highlights
Postural instability and balance problems in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) can seriously affect the quality of life and lead to falls with a subsequent increase in the morbidity and mortality
All recruited patients with PD met the following inclusion criteria: diagnosed with idiopathic PD according to the revised International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society (MDS-PD) diagnostic criteria and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) score ≥ 20 [23, 24]
This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Alexandria University and informed consents were obtained from all participants
Summary
Postural instability and balance problems in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) can seriously affect the quality of life and lead to falls with a subsequent increase in the morbidity and mortality. This work aimed to detect gait disorders in patients with PD using the functional gait assessment (FGA) scale and to correlate it with the disease severity in Egyptian PD patients This is a case–control study in which 40 patients with PD were recruited from the Involuntary Movement Clinic at Alexandria University El-Hadara Hspoital; 20 patients had early stages of PD (Hoehn Yahr stages 1 and 2) and 20 patients had advanced PD (Hoehn Yahr stages 3 and 4). Postural instability and balance problems in patients with PD can seriously affect the quality of life and lead to falls with a subsequent increase in the morbidity and mortality. Up to 68% of patients with PD will fall each year leading to injuries and large personal and societal costs [3, 8,9,10,11,12,13,14]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: The Egyptian Journal of Neurology, Psychiatry and Neurosurgery
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
