Impact of Cognitive Loading on Postural Control in Parkinson's Disease With Freezing of Gait.

Journal: Gerontology & geriatric medicine
Published Date: Nov 3, 2016

Abstract

To assess standing balance in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients with and without freezing of gait (FOG) during cognitive loading. A balance assessment with cognitive loading, reading (RE) and counting backward (CB), was performed by the Nintendo Wii Fit in 60 PD patients (Hoehn and Yahr stages 1-3) at Thammasat University Hospital, Thailand. The participants were grouped into FOG and non-FOG according to the Freezing of Gait-Questionnaire (FOG-Q) scores. The center of pressure (CoP) in terms of path length (PL), sway area (SA), root mean square (RMS), medio-lateral (ML), and antero-posterior (AP) were analyzed. Significant increases of PL were observed in both groups of PD patients during cognitive loading ( < .001). Meanwhile, the increased differences of PL during cognitive loading in PD-FOG were larger than in PD-non-FOG. The ML displacement during counting backward was significantly increased in PD-FOG ( = .012). Cognitive loading influenced standing balance and postural sway of PD patients. The effects were more prominent in PD-FOG. These findings represent the interactions between cognitive function, postural control, and FOG in PD.

Authors

  • Wannipat Buated
    School of Knowledge Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Ishikawa, Japan.
  • Praween Lolekha
    Neurology Division, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Thammasat University, Pathum Thani, Thailand.
  • Shohei Hidaka
    School of Knowledge Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Ishikawa, Japan.
  • Tsutomu Fujinami
    School of Knowledge Science, Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Ishikawa, Japan.

Keywords

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