Music therapy on gait disturbance and gait analysis for Parkinson's disease using a portable gait rhythmogram

Abstract

Gait disturbance is one of the most frequent and intractable motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease (PD). The aim of this study is to develop the application of music therapy and a new method of gait analyses in PD. The subjects of this study were 20 outpatients with PD with gait disturbance. We examined whether music therapy is effective as rehabilitation for gait disturbance in PD, by using a portable gait rhythmogram. PD gait speed was significantly slow, the steps were small, the cadence was also slower compared as that of normal control. By the addition of 3-dimensional acceleration measurement, the strength of PD gait was weak compared as normal control. The regression line indicates that gait force is an essential factor for gait speed. We checked a trajectory of the accelerometer, which indicates that PD patients have a large amplitude of the mediolateral direction. The patients carried out common walking training tasks carrying a portable gait rhythmogram. The walking training eight tasks were walking 5 meters in a straight line at subjects’ usual walking speeds, fast walking, walking with hand clapping, walking in step with music of 90 BPM (beat per minute), 100 BPM, 110 BPM, and 120 BPM, and fast walking without music. We recognized an effect of the music therapy by comparing walking before and after accompanied by stimulation with music. Significant improvements were observed in stride, gait speed, cadence, acceleration, and trajectory, suggesting music therapy is effective at reducing gait disturbance in PD.