Movement rehabilitation by means of physical therapy represents an essential tool in the management of gait disturbances induced by Parkinson's disease (PD). In this context, the use of rhythmic auditory stimulation (RAS) has been proven useful in improving several spatio-temporal parameters, but concerning its effect on gait patterns, scarce information is available from a kinematic viewpoint....

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE We hypothesized that retinal microvascular signs are associated with executive dysfunction, slow gait, and depressive mood, which are characteristic features of microvascular disease affecting frontal subcortical regions of the brain. METHODS In the Cardiovascular Health Study, 1744 participants (mean age, 78) free of stroke had retinal photographs and carotid ultrasoun...

The primary aim of this study was to ascertain whether a battery of physical function measures in a Parkinson's disease (PD) patient cohort predicted mortality status at 7-year follow-up. Secondary aims were establishing which specific tests were the most useful, and whether PD phenotype was a predictor. A retrospective correlation design was used in this study. A cohort of 109 PD patients unde...

Gait analysis systems are widely used for the assessment of gait disabilities and provide more accurate and detailed information than clinical tests. Scores and indexes have been proposed to summarize the large volume of data produced, each emphasizing different aspects of gait. Based on specific spatiotemporal parameters, the Functional Ambulation Performance Score (FAPS) quantifies gait at a ...

In a retrospective study of 84 outpatients with multiinfarct dementia, urinary and gait disturbances were found in 50% and 27%, respectively, and often preceded dementia and discrete stroke-like episodes by more than 5 years. Compared to patients without urinary disturbance, those with urinary dysfunction were predominantly male and more behaviorally impaired, but were similar in age, cognitive...

Locomotor training has proved to provide beneficial effect in terms of mobility in incomplete paraplegic patients. Neuroprosthetic technology can contribute to increase the efficacy of a training paradigm in the promotion of a locomotor pattern. Robotic exoskeletons can be used to manage the unavoidable loss of performance of artificially driven muscles. Hybrid exoskeletons blend complementary ...

BACKGROUND Precise long-term assessment of movement and physical function following Achilles tendon rupture is required for the development and evaluation of treatment, including different regimens of physical therapy. PURPOSE To assess intermediate-term (<10 years by conventional thinking) objective measures of physical function following Achilles tendon rupture treated nonsurgically and to ...

Fear of falling (FOF) is associated with poor physical and psychosocial health and can have debilitating consequences especially when it leads to activity restriction. This study examined whether normal and dual task gait disruptions were independently associated with FOF and activity restriction or if they were fully explained by impaired health status. Data was obtained from The Irish Longitu...

The clinical syndrome of pure akinesia has most often been associated with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and is characterized by difficulty initiating gait and "freezing" during walking, writing and speaking. Similar syndromes have been described under the rubrics of primary progressive freezing gait and primary gait ignition failure. We investigated the specificity of the clinical syndr...