Objective: The objective of this study is to verify the correlations between cognitive and motor clinical scales and gait in individuals with PD and whether medication alters these relationships.

Background: The ability to walk independently is essential for an individual’s quality of life, and aspects such as mobility, balance, and cognition are important for gait performance. The inter-relationships between gait and cognitive in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and the effects of medication on this relationship are still not well understood.

Method: Twenty-two individuals with PD idiopathic (M = 64.1 years, SD = 10.5) were evaluated through balance and cognitive tests (UPDRS- III, MoCA, Mini-BESTest, TUG, Stroop, TMTA-B), in addition to gait analysis in the laboratory. The association between gait and clinical scales variables was assessed through the Spearman test, controlled by age, disease duration, and levodopa dosage.

Results: UPDRS-III was directly related to step width in the OFF state of the medication. Mini-BESTest was inversely proportional to step width in ON and OFF states. Stroop-III was directly proportional to the stride time and the stance and double stance phases and inversely proportional to the cadence and swing phase, both in the ON state of the medication. TMTB-A was inversely proportional to step length, stride length, cadence, and speed in the ON state [Tables 1 and 2].

Conclusion: Our results indicate that cognitive and attention factors are related to gait parameters in PD. These results may have significant implications for directing gait training strategies in the rehabilitation of individuals.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/correlation-between-clinical-scales-and-gait-in-parkinsons-disease/