Abstract Details

Title The effect of metronome and music on gait variability in people with Parkinson’s disease

Topic Movement Disorders

Presentation(s) P2 - Poster Session 2 (5:30 PM-6:30 PM)

Poster/Presentation
Number 10-018

Objective This study compares the effect of metronome and music rhythms with variable inter-beat intervals on gait variability in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD).

Background People with PD benefit from external auditory stimulation to stabilize gait. Stimuli with beat-to-beat variability mimicking the stride-to-stride variability present in healthy locomotion may provide greater benefits than traditional periodic stimuli. It is unknown if musical stimuli would provide greater benefits compared to metronome stimuli.

Design/Methods Fourteen people with PD (67.79 ±9.54 y.o.) and fourteen controls (70.79 ±9.88 y.o.) walked for twelve minutes around an indoor track three different times. They first walked without stimuli at preferred speed; they were then instructed to step in time in random order with metronome or musical stimulus presenting beat-to-beat fluctuations, centered around the participant’s preferred tempo. The perceived difficulty and enjoyability of each trial was assessed using continuous Likert-like scales. Gait measures were recorded using force-sensitive insoles. Gait variability was assessed using the coefficient of variation (CV) and the scaling exponent α-DFA.

Results Two-ways ANOVAs (2 groups x 3 trials) did not detect main nor interaction effects for α-DFA. There was no interaction nor main effect of group for CV, but there was a main effect of trials (p=.039). Paired sample t-test revealed that CV was higher during both metronome (p=.04) and music (p=.008) trials compared to baseline. The control group perceived the music significantly more difficult to sync with than the metronome (p=.033). The PD group presented a similar (non-significant) trend. Both groups considered both stimuli equally enjoyable.

Conclusions Our results question previous studies suggesting that variable auditory cues improve gait in patients with PD. Both stimuli lead participants to walk with a (non-significant) healthier pattern of fluctuations, but with a less stable gait (i.e., greater CV). Future studies should test the efficacy of variable metronomes in patients with greater impairments.

Authors/Disclosures
Amy Hellman, MD, FAAN (University of Nebraska Medical Center) PRESENTER	The institution of Dr. Hellman has received research support from COBRE-NIH. The institution of Dr. Hellman has received research support from Neurocrine.
	No disclosure on file
	No disclosure on file
	No disclosure on file
	No disclosure on file

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