Comparing Backward Walking Performance in Parkinson's Disease with and without Freezing of Gait-A Systematic Review

Tracy Milane; Clint Hansen; Matthias Chardon; Edoardo Bianchini; Nicolas Vuillerme

doi:10.3390/ijerph20020953

Comparing Backward Walking Performance in Parkinson's Disease with and without Freezing of Gait-A Systematic Review

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 4;20(2):953. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20020953.

Authors

Tracy Milane^{1

2}, Clint Hansen², Matthias Chardon¹, Edoardo Bianchini^{1

2

3}, Nicolas Vuillerme^{1

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ AGEIS, Université Grenoble Alpes, 38000 Grenoble, France.
² Department of Neurology, UKSH Campus Kiel, Kiel University, Arnold-Heller-Str. 3, Haus D, 24105 Kiel, Germany.
³ Department of Neuroscience, Mental Health and Sensory Organs (NESMOS), Sapienza University of Rome, 00189 Rome, Italy.
⁴ LabCom Telecom4Health, Orange Labs & Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Inria, Grenoble INP-UGA, 38000 Grenoble, France.
⁵ Institut Universitaire de France, 75005 Paris, France.

Abstract

Introduction: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by motor symptoms and gait impairments. Among them, freezing of gait (FOG) is one of the most disabling manifestations. Backward walking (BW) is an activity of daily life that individuals with PD might find difficult and could cause falls. Recent studies have reported that gait impairments in PD were more pronounced in BW, particularly in people presenting FOG. However, to the best of our knowledge, no systematic review has synthetized the literature which compared BW performance in PD patients with and without FOG.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the differences in BW performance between PD patients with FOG and PD patients without FOG.

Methods: Two databases, PubMed and Web of Science, were systematically searched to identify studies comparing BW performance in PD patients with and without FOG. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) tool was used to assess the quality of the studies included.

Results: Seven studies with 431 PD patients (179 PD with FOG and 252 PD without FOG) met the inclusion criteria and were included in this review. Among them, 5 studies reported walking speed, 3 studies step length, stride length and lower limb range of motion, 2 studies functional ambulation profile, toe clearance height, swing, and stance percent and 1 study reported the decomposition index and stepping coordination. Compared to PD patients without FOG, PD patients with FOG showed slower walking speed and reduced step length in 3 studies, shorter stride length, lower functional ambulation profile and decreased ankle range of motion in 2 studies, and smaller swing percent, higher stance percent, worse stepping coordination, greater decomposition between movements, and lower toe clearance height in one study.

Conclusion: Despite the small number of included studies, the findings of this review suggested that PD patients with FOG have worse gait performance during the BW task than PD without FOG.

Keywords: Parkinson’s disease; backward walking; freezing of gait; gait.

Publication types

Systematic Review
Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Gait
Gait Disorders, Neurologic* / etiology
Humans
Neurodegenerative Diseases*
Parkinson Disease* / complications
Walking

Grants and funding

This research was partly funded by the French National Research Agency, within the framework of the “Investissements d’avenir” program (ANR-10-AIRT-05 and ANR-15-IDEX-02). The sponsors had no involvement in study design, the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, or in writing the manuscript. This work also forms part of a broader translational and interdisciplinary GaitAlps research program (N.V.).