Objective: To investigate the association between perceived walking difficulties and gait speed in people with drug naïve or early Parkinson’s disease (PD).
Background: Objective aspects of gait are affected early on in the disease process in people with PD, i.e., they walk slower, with a reduced step length and increased gait variability compared to controls. However, less is known regarding the association between the patients perceived walking difficulties and objectively assessed gait speed in people with early PD.
Method: Forty-four participants with drug naïve/early PD (i.e., anti-PD medication since maximum 12 months) were included (mean [SD] age 69.1 [10.8] years; 30% female). Perceived walking difficulties were assessed with the Generic Walk-12 (Walk-12G; possible scoring range 0-42; higher=worse). Comfortable and fast gait speed were assessed by using an electronic walkway (active mat length 4.88 m). Participants were instructed to walk 6 consecutive laps on the walkway in comfortable pace, followed by 6 laps in fast pace. None of the participants used walking aids during gait assessments. The associations between perceived walking difficulties and comfortable and fast gait speed were studied by using Pearson’s correlation coefficient.
Results: The participants reported low levels of perceived walking difficulties (mean Walk-12G score was 6.9; ±6.7). Mean values for comfortable gait speed was 1.16 m/s, compared to 1.56 m/s in fast speed. Perceived walking difficulties were moderately correlated with comfortable (r=-0.55, p<0.001) and fast gait speed (r=-0.60, p<0.001), whereas there was a high correlation between comfortable and fast gait speed (r=0.84, p<0.001).
Conclusion: The results show that objectively measured gait speed in a clinical setting was only moderately correlated with perceived walking difficulties. This signals that patients’ perceptions of their walking difficulties are not entirely captured by timed walk tests in a clinical setting, which underlines the importance of using various measures of gait in research and clinical practice, i.e. both patient reported outcomes and objective assessments.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
SB. Jonasson, M. Lindh-Rengifo, E. Stomrud, O. Hansson, MH. Nilsson. The association between perceived walking difficulties and gait speed in people with drug naïve/early PD [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2023; 38 (suppl 1). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/the-association-between-perceived-walking-difficulties-and-gait-speed-in-people-with-drug-naive-early-pd/. Accessed June 15, 2025.« Back to 2023 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/the-association-between-perceived-walking-difficulties-and-gait-speed-in-people-with-drug-naive-early-pd/