Comparison of the effects of rhythmic vibrotactile stimulations and rhythmic auditory stimulations on Parkinson's disease patients' gait variability: a pilot study.

introductionParkinson's disease patients' gait is characterized by shorter step length, reduced gait velocity and deterioration of temporal organization of stride duration variability (modified Long Range Autocorrelations). The objective of this study was to compare effects of rhythmic auditory stimulations (RAS) and Rhythmic Vibrotactile Stimulations (RVS) on Parkinson's disease patients' gait.

methodsTen Parkinson's disease patients performed three walking conditions lasting 5-7 min each: control condition (CC), RAS condition and RVS condition. Inertial measurement units were used to assess spatiotemporal gait parameters. Stride duration variability was assessed in terms of magnitude using coefficient of variation and in terms of temporal organization (i.e., Long Range Autocorrelations computation) using the evenly spaced averaged Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (α-DFA exponent).

resultsGait velocity was significantly higher during RAS condition than during CC (Cohen's d = 0.52) and similar to RVS condition (Cohen's d = 0.17). Cadence was significantly higher during RAS (Cohen's d = 0.77) and RVS (Cohens' d = 0.56) conditions than during CC. Concerning variability, no difference was found either for mean coefficient of variation or mean α-DFA between conditions. However, a great variability of individual results between the RAS and the RVS conditions is to be noted concerning α-DFA.

conclusionsRAS and RVS improved similarly PD patients' spatiotemporal gait parameters, without modifying stride duration variability in terms of magnitude and temporal organization at group level. Future studies should evaluate the relevant parameters for administering the right cueing type for the right patient.

trial registrationClinicalTrial.gov registration number NCT05790759, date of registration: 16/03/2023, retrospectively registered.