We collected the gait parameters and lower limb joint kinematics of patients with three different types of primary degenerative neurological diseases: (i) cerebellar ataxia (19 patients), (ii) hereditary spastic paraparesis (26 patients), and (iii) Parkinson's disease (32 patients). Sixty-five gender-age matched healthy subjects were enrolled as control group. An optoelectronic motion analysis system was used to measure time-distance parameters and lower limb joint kinematics during gait in both patients and healthy controls.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPatients with degenerative neurological diseases such as cerebellar ataxia, spastic paraplegia, and Parkinson's disease often display progressive gait function decline that inexorably impacts their autonomy and quality of life. Therefore, considering the related social and economic costs, one of the most important areas of intervention in neurorehabilitation should be the treatment of gait abnormalities. This study aims to determine whether an entire dataset of gait parameters recorded in patients with degenerative neurological diseases can be clustered into homogeneous groups distinct from each other and from healthy subjects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF