The Forward and Lateral Tilt Angle of the Neck and Trunk Measured by Three-Dimensional Gait and Motion Analysis as a Candidate for a Severity Index in Patients with Parkinson's Disease

Hirofumi Matsumoto; Makoto Shiraishi; Ariaki Higashi; Sakae Hino; Mayumi Kaburagi; Heisuke Mizukami; Futaba Maki; Junji Yamauchi; Kenichiro Tanabe; Tomoo Sato; Yoshihisa Yamano

doi:10.3390/neurolint14030061

The Forward and Lateral Tilt Angle of the Neck and Trunk Measured by Three-Dimensional Gait and Motion Analysis as a Candidate for a Severity Index in Patients with Parkinson's Disease

Neurol Int. 2022 Sep 13;14(3):727-737. doi: 10.3390/neurolint14030061.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Neurology, St. Marianna University School of Medicine, Kawasaki 216-8511, Japan.
² Systemfriend Inc., Hiroshima 731-5125, Japan.
³ Department of Neurology, Shin Yurigaoka General Hospital, Kawasaki 215-0026, Japan.
⁴ Department of Rare Diseases Research, Institute of Medical Sciences, St. Marianna University School of Medicine, Kawasaki 216-8512, Japan.

Abstract

(1) Objective: To evaluate the usefulness of a three-dimensional motion-analysis system (AKIRA^®) as a quantitative measure of motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). (2) Method: This study included 48 patients with PD. We measured their motion during 2 m of walking using AKIRA^®, we calculated the tilt angles of the neck and trunk, ankle height, and gait speed, then we compared these parameters with the MDS-UPDRS and the Hoehn and Yahr scale. Furthermore, we measured these AKIRA indicators before and after 1 year of observation. (3) Results: The forward tilt angle of the neck showed a strong correlation with the scores on parts II, III, and the total MDS-UPDRS, and the tilt angle of the trunk showed a moderate correlation with those measures. The lateral tilt angle of the trunk showed a moderate correlation with a freezing of the gait and a postural instability. Regarding changes over the course of 1 year (n = 34), the total scores on part III of the MDS-UPDRS and the forward tilt angle of the neck improved, while the lateral tilt angle of the trunk worsened. (4) Conclusion: Taken together, the forward and lateral tilt angles of the neck and trunk as measured by AKIRA^® can be a candidate for quantitative severity index in patients with PD.

Keywords: MDS-UPDRS; Parkinson’s disease; neck/trunk tilt angle; three-dimensional motion analysis.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from the Practical Research Project for Rare/Intractable Diseases of the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED, No. JP22ek0109529h, JP22ek0109441h, JP22ek0109493s, and JP22ek0109548s), Rare and Intractable Diseases from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan (No. JPMH22FC1013); and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI (No. JP22H02987).