Abstract
Fluctuations of motor symptoms make clinical assessment in Parkinson’s disease a complex task. New technologies aim to quantify motor symptoms, and their remote application holds potential for a closer monitoring of treatment effects. The focus of this study was to explore the potential of a stepping in place task using RGB-Depth (RGBD) camera technology to assess motor symptoms of people with Parkinson’s disease. In total, 25 persons performed a 40 s stepping in place task in front of a single RGBD camera (Kinect for Xbox One) in up to two different therapeutic states. Eight kinematic parameters were derived from knee movements to describe features of hypokinesia, asymmetry, and arrhythmicity of stepping. To explore their potential clinical utility, these parameters were analyzed for their Spearman’s Rho rank correlation to clinical ratings, and for intraindividual changes between treatment conditions using standard response mean and paired t-test. Test performance not only differed between ON and OFF treatment conditions, but showed moderate correlations to clinical ratings, specifically ratings of postural instability (pull test). Furthermore, the test elicited freezing in some subjects. Results suggest that this single standardized motor task is a promising candidate to assess an array of relevant motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. The simple technical test setup would allow future use by patients themselves.
Highlights
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with peak of onset in the sixth decade of life
Data from 25 Patients with Parkinson’s disease (PWPD) were used in this work, originating from two studies performed at an academic medical center
The descriptive statistics of all eight derived kinematic parameters are provided for the pooled dataset, as well as the subsets of recordings acquired in ON and OFF (Table 3)
Summary
Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disease with peak of onset in the sixth decade of life. Patients with Parkinson’s disease (PWPD) may suffer from different combinations of slowing and shortness of movement (bradykinesia), increased muscle tone (rigidity), tremor, and typical postural instability [1]. This results in a hypokinetic gait disturbance, which may include freezing of gait (FOG), characterized by episodic hesitations of stepping, or inefficient stepping with high frequency (festination), resulting in episodic arrest of locomotor behavior [2,3,4]. Several treatment options are available to relieve the symptoms of this disorder, and their appropriate dosing depends on close observation of motor signs [6].
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