The effects of a secondary task on gait in axial spondyloarthritis

Julie Soulard,Athan Baillet,Nicolas Vuillerme,Jacques Vaillant,Philippe Gaudin

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-98732-z

Abstract

Studies on the effects of dual tasking in patients with chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases are limited. The aim of this study was to assess dual tasking while walking in patients with axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) in comparison to healthy controls. Thirty patients with axSpA and thirty healthy controls underwent a 10-m walk test at a self-selected comfortable walking speed in single- and dual-task conditions. Foot-worn inertial sensors were used to compute spatiotemporal gait parameters. Analysis of spatiotemporal gait parameters showed that the secondary manual task negatively affected walking performance in terms of significantly decreased mean speed (p < 0.001), stride length (p < 0.001) and swing time (p = 0.008) and increased double support (p = 0.002) and stance time (p = 0.008). No significant interaction of group and condition was observed. Both groups showed lower gait performance in dual task condition by reducing speed, swing time and stride length, and increasing double support and stance time. Patients with axSpA were not more affected by the dual task than matched healthy controls, suggesting that the secondary manual task did not require greater attention in patients with axSpA. Increasing the complexity of the walking and/or secondary task may increase the sensitivity of the dual-task design to axial spondyloarthritis.

Highlights

Studies on the effects of dual tasking in patients with chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases are limited
Maintaining a safe, stable and efficient gait pattern under such dual task conditions relies on the successful interaction between neural mechanisms that regulate balance and gait control and those that regulate the execution of concurrent motor and/or cognitive task[2]
Data of the present study for the single task condition have been already presented in a previous publication[20]. These data are included only as reference for the dual task walking condition, insofar as the present study focused on the effects of a secondary task on spatiotemporal gait parameters in axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA)

Summary

Introduction

Studies on the effects of dual tasking in patients with chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases are limited. There is a plethora of literature reporting that gait pattern is adversely affected during dual-task walking This is the case for young healthy individuals[2,3,4,5,6], who generally presented reduced gait speed, shorter stride length, and increased time spent in double limb support in dual-task walking condition compared to single-task walking condition., The negative effect of dual tasks on gait is greater in older adults (e.g., see for reviews7–10) and patients populations (patients with neurologic disorders (e.g., see for r eview11–14), suggesting that walking requires greater cognitive resources in these populations versus young and/or healthy adults. Aged 18 to 65 years at time of their first evaluation axSpA (based on ASAS criteria 51) or AS (based on modified New York Criteria 52) Able to walk 180 m without technical help With stable treatment for 3 months With a public health insurance (French social security)

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