Walking turns in Parkinson's disease patients with freezing of gait: The short-term effects of different cueing strategies

Background This study aimed to evaluate the effects of cueing on circular walking in patients with Parkinson's disease. Methods Parkinson's disease patients in the "off" state were asked to walk on a designed route at their preferred speed. The experimental protocol was divided into two sessions. The first session was to be performed with no manual task. During the second session, the participant had to perform a manual task. Each session was measured for each of four conditions performed in the following order: without cues, with a visual cue, with an auditory cue, and with dual cues simultaneously. Temporospatial gait parameters and freezing of gait (FOG) events regarding the cueing-on and cueing-off situations were the main measures of gait performance. Results Twelve patients with Parkinson's disease were recruited. Demographic and clinical characteristics of the participants were the following [median (interquartile range)]: age 63 years (57-67.3 years), Hoehn and Yahr stage 3.0 (3.0-3.25), and Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale motor subsection off medication 22.5 (20.3-35.5). Walking turns of 180° in combination with a manual task were the most important triggers for FOG. On circular walking either with or without a manual task, visual or dual cues improved festinating gait patterns and increased step length. Visual or dual cues further improved the velocity of walking with a manual task. All types of cueing decreased FOG scores either with or without a manual task. Conclusion Our study suggests that cueing improves festinating gait and decreases the incidence of FOG. Future studies with much larger sample sizes are warranted to support our findings.