TY - JOUR
T1 - Arm swing magnitude and asymmetry during gait in the early stages of Parkinson's disease
AU - Lewek, Michael D.
AU - Poole, Roxanne
AU - Johnson, Julia
AU - Halawa, Omar
AU - Huang, Xuemei
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health [ R01NS06722 and K23AG21491 to XH, and UL1RR025747 from the Clinical and Translational Science Award program of the Division of Research Resources ]; and the UNC Center for Human Movement Sciences . We thank Richard Mailman for his insightful feedback about the manuscript.
PY - 2010/2
Y1 - 2010/2
N2 - The later stages of Parkinson's disease (PD) are characterized by altered gait patterns. Although decreased arm swing during gait is the most frequently reported motor dysfunction in individuals with PD, quantitative descriptions of gait in early PD have largely ignored upper extremity movements. This study was designed to perform a quantitative analysis of arm swing magnitude and asymmetry that might be useful in the assessment of early PD. Twelve individuals with early PD (in "off" state) and eight controls underwent gait analysis using an optically-based motion capture system. Participants were instructed to walk at normal and fast velocities, and then on heels (to minimize push-off). Arm swing was measured as the excursion of the wrist with respect to the pelvis. Arm swing magnitude for each arm, and inter-arm asymmetry, were compared between groups. Both groups had comparable gait velocities (p = 0.61), and there was no significant difference between the groups in the magnitude of arm swing in all walking conditions for the arm that swung more (p = 0.907) or less (p = 0.080). Strikingly, the PD group showed significantly greater arm swing asymmetry (asymmetry angle: 13.9 ± 7.9%) compared to the control group (asymmetry angle: 5.1 ± 4.0%; p = 0.003). Unlike arm swing magnitude, arm swing asymmetry unequivocally differs between people with early PD and controls. Such quantitative evaluation of arm swing, especially its asymmetry, may have utility for early and differential diagnosis, and for tracking disease progression in patients with later PD.
AB - The later stages of Parkinson's disease (PD) are characterized by altered gait patterns. Although decreased arm swing during gait is the most frequently reported motor dysfunction in individuals with PD, quantitative descriptions of gait in early PD have largely ignored upper extremity movements. This study was designed to perform a quantitative analysis of arm swing magnitude and asymmetry that might be useful in the assessment of early PD. Twelve individuals with early PD (in "off" state) and eight controls underwent gait analysis using an optically-based motion capture system. Participants were instructed to walk at normal and fast velocities, and then on heels (to minimize push-off). Arm swing was measured as the excursion of the wrist with respect to the pelvis. Arm swing magnitude for each arm, and inter-arm asymmetry, were compared between groups. Both groups had comparable gait velocities (p = 0.61), and there was no significant difference between the groups in the magnitude of arm swing in all walking conditions for the arm that swung more (p = 0.907) or less (p = 0.080). Strikingly, the PD group showed significantly greater arm swing asymmetry (asymmetry angle: 13.9 ± 7.9%) compared to the control group (asymmetry angle: 5.1 ± 4.0%; p = 0.003). Unlike arm swing magnitude, arm swing asymmetry unequivocally differs between people with early PD and controls. Such quantitative evaluation of arm swing, especially its asymmetry, may have utility for early and differential diagnosis, and for tracking disease progression in patients with later PD.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2009.10.013
DO - 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2009.10.013
M3 - Article
C2 - 19945285
AN - SCOPUS:74449083881
SN - 0966-6362
VL - 31
SP - 256
EP - 260
JO - Gait and Posture
JF - Gait and Posture
IS - 2
ER -