Treadmill Suitable for Lab Use, Gait Studies for Patients With Parkinson Disease

Per results of a recent study, the impact of Parkinson disease (PD) on stride length and cadence in relation to gate speed is maintained with the use of a treadmill compared with overground walking.

For this study, researchers compared 27 people with PD in the OFF-medication state to 29 healthy controls. Study participants walked on an instrumented gait walkway then moved to an instrumented treadmill at 85%, 100%, and 115% of their overground walking speed.

Cadence and average stride length were also computed for all study participants in treadmill as well as overground walking.

“Stride length and cadence both differed between overground and treadmill walking,” stated study authors. “Regressions of stride length and cadence on gait speed showed a log-log relationship for both overground and treadmill gait in both PD and control groups.”

Authors of the study observed the difference was maintained between the PD and control groups for treadmill gait “not only when treadmill speed matched overground speed, but also with ±15% variation in treadmill speed from that value.”

“Treadmills provide a safe and convenient way to study the gait of people with PD,” said study authors, and these results confirm the treadmill is suitable for lab use and PD gait therapeutic studies.

Reference:
Lu C, Louie KH, Twedell E, Vitek JL, MacKinnon CD, Cooper SE. Overground versus treadmill walking in Parkinson disease: relationship between speed and spatiotemporal gait metrics. Gait Posture. Published online January 26, 2022. doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2022.01.020