Objective: The aim of our study is to evaluate safety, tolerance and efficacy of a new device called BeatPark, delivering individualized musical stimulation for gait auto-rehabilitation at home.

Background: Music enhances motivation for physical activity and rhythmic auditory cueing (RAC) improves gait in PD. Music with a tempo synchronized to the patient’s gait cadence may be perfectly suited for enhancing gait in PD.

Method: Forty-five patients with PD (aged 65±9; H&Y=2.4±0.6) underwent a one-month rehabilitation program (30 min/day, 5 days a week) involving walking outside while listening to music delivered by the BeatPark device. This device associates sensors on the ankles detecting gait cadence and a smartphone application modifying the tempo of the music in order to synchronize it to patients gait and increasing it progressively to +10% of the patient’s spontaneous. Evaluation was based on questionnaires and a six-minute walk test before and after the rehabilitation program.

Results: Using BeatPark was safe, as the number of falls per week reduced from 0.26±0.85 (before rehabilitation) to 0.14±0.51 (after rehabilitation), (p<0.005); tolerance was good without increased of fatigue and with a significant reduction of pain. Speed was improved from 1.28± 0.20 m/s before to 1.32±0.17 after (p =0.007), and associated with a significant increase of both cadence (118.0±11.9 vs 121.1±10.1, p= 0.02) but also stride length (1.29±0.13 vs 1.31±0.15, p=0.04)

Conclusion: Tolerance and safety of BeatPark are very encouraging. Results on efficacy are promising but a large randomized control trial is needed to confirm these preliminary findings.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/beatpark-a-new-wearable-device-for-gait-auto-rehabilitation-in-parkinsons-disease-delivering-adapted-musical-stimulation/