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Gait quantitation in Parkinson's disease — locomotor disability and correlation to clinical rating scales

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Summary

Stride parameters were established in 17 patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD; mean age 68.8 yrs.; Hoehn-Yahr stages 2 and 3) and in 33 healthy age-matched controls. Free-walking speed was lower in PD as were stride length and cadence. Impaired locomotor synergies in PD were reflected by a higher coefficient of variation of stride length; step width and its coefficient of variation (the latter related to postural imbalance in locomotion) were not changed. No stride parameter correlated with any total score of either the Hoehn-Yahr Scale, the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale Motor Examination (“UPDRS-III”), the Columbia Rating Scale (CURS) or the Webster Rating Scale. Stride length correlated with a CURS-Bradykinesia-Score, whereas gait velocity correlated with UPDRS-III-Axial-Motor-Score and with the CURS-Bradykinesia-Score. Hypokinesia of gait in moderately disabled PD patients is best assessed by combined analysis of stride parameters and locomotion-related subscores from conventional rating scales.

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Author notes

  1. P. Vieregge

    Present address: Department of Neurology, Medical University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Federal Republic of Germany

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Medical University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Federal Republic of Germany

    H. Stolze, C. Klein & I. Heberlein

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  1. P. Vieregge
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  2. H. Stolze
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  3. C. Klein
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  4. I. Heberlein
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Vieregge, P., Stolze, H., Klein, C. et al. Gait quantitation in Parkinson's disease — locomotor disability and correlation to clinical rating scales. J. Neural Transmission 104, 237–248 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01273184

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01273184

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