Does cueing training improve physical activity in patients with Parkinson's disease?

Background: Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) are encouraged to stay active to maintain their mobility. Ambulatory activity monitoring (AM) provides an objective way to determine type and amount of gait-related daily activities.

Objective: To investigate the effects of a home cueing training program on functional walking activity in PD.

Evidence for motor learning in Parkinson's disease: acquisition, automaticity and retention of cued gait performance after training with external rhythmical cues.

People with Parkinson's disease (PD) have difficulty learning new motor skills. Evidence suggests external stimuli (cues) may enhance learning; however, this may be specific to cued rather than non-cued performance. We aimed to test effects of cued training on motor learning in PD.

The short-term effects of different cueing modalities on turn speed in people with Parkinson's disease.

Background: Turning has been associated with instability, falls, and freezing in people with Parkinson's disease (PD).

Objective: To investigate the effect of different modalities of rhythmic cueing on the duration of a functional turn in freezers and nonfreezers.

Methods: A total of 133 patients with idiopathic PD while in the on phase of the medication cycle participated in this study as part of a subanalysis from the RESCUE trial.

Identifying fallers with Parkinson's disease using home-based tests: who is at risk?

The objective of this work is to determine risk factors for falling in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) using home-based assessments and develop a prediction model. Data on falls, balance, gait-related activities, and nonmotor symptoms were obtained from 153 PD patients (Hoehn-Yahr 2-4) in their home. Fifty-one candidate determinants for falling were independently tested using bivariate logistic regression analysis.

Walking speed during single and dual tasks in Parkinson's disease: which characteristics are important?

The impact of dual tasks on gait in Parkinson's disease (PD) reveals lack of automaticity and increased cognitive demands. We explored which characteristics explained walking speed with and without dual task interference and if they reflected the cognitive demands of the task. In 130 people with PD, gait performance was quantified in the home using accelerometers allowing estimates of single and dual task walking speed and interference (difference between dual and single task).