The novel quantitative measures of gait and posture in Parkinson's disease: Cross-sectional analysis

Abstract

Posture abnormality and gait impairments characterize of Parkinson's disease (PD), predict the risk of falling, and are important contributors to reduced quality of life. The quantitative measures of posture and gait may eventually provide usefulness as a biomarker in PD. This study included that 40 patients with PD (male 26, female 14, average age 70.4 ± 7.6 years old) and 17 normal healthy controls. We selected the quantified measures of the gait function, such as MDS-UPDRS, Timed up & go test, 5 feet walk test, 6 minutes-walk test. The posture angle of both forward flexion and lateral flexion were measured using the application of smartphone, which is capable even in a consulting room. The new posture quantitative measurement is stabile between examiners. The gait functions and the posture angles were significantly abnormal in the PD patients, compared to healthy controls (P < 0.001). The forward flexion angles were well correlated with the ages, on the other hand the lateral flexion angles were well correlated with the duration of the disease. The posture angles do not positively correlate with freezing gait but do correlate in limited univariate analyses with measures of gait function.