Effect of Secondary Motor Task on Performance of Stair Descent in People with Idiopathic Parkinson’s Disease

Abstract

In people with Parkinson’s disease (PD), dual tasking is difficult because of the impaired motor functionsof the basal ganglia. It causes postural instability, reduction in gait speed, decreased stride length, increasedfestination and freezing. So it can also influence performance on stair ambulation. This creates a need tostudy the effect of dual tasks on stair ambulation, especially stair descent. 30 subjects were selected fromvarious hospitals in Delhi. After taking the informed consent, the subjects were made to descend down thestairs under two conditions: stairs descent only and stairs descent with secondary motor task. The time takenin both the activities was recorded along with the scores on Observational Stair Parameter Scoring System(OSPS). Time taken by the subjects and the scores on OSPS for performing secondary task was more thanthe normal stair descent. The performance of stair descent with secondary task became more difficult thandescent without the secondary task