Limited effect of dopaminergic medication on straight walking and turning in early to moderate Parkinson’s disease during single and dual tasking

• Main Authors: Morad eElshehabi, Katrin S Maier, Sandra E Hasmann, Susanne eNussbaum, Heinz eHerbst, Tanja eHeger, Daniela eBerg, Markus A Hobert, Walter eMaetzler
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2016-01-01
• Series: Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience
• Subjects: Gait; Parkinson’s disease; Dual tasking; wearable sensors; turning
• Online Access: http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnagi.2016.00004/full

Background: In Parkinson’s disease (PD), the effects of dopaminergic medication on straight walking and turning were mainly investigated under single tasking (ST) conditions. However, multitasking situations are considered more daily relevant.Methods: Thirty-nine early to moderate PD patients performed the following standarized ST and dual tasks (DT) as fast as possible for one minute during On- and Off-medication while wearing inertial sensors: straight walking and turning, checking boxes, and subtracting serial 7s. Quantitative gait parameters, as well as velocity of the secondary tasks were analyzed.Results: The following parameters improved significantly in On-medication during ST: gait velocity during straight walking (p=0.03); step duration (p=0.048) and peak velocity (p=0.04) during turning; velocity of checking boxes during ST (p=0.04) and DT (p=0.04). Velocity of checking boxes was the only parameter that also improved during DT.Conclusion: These results suggest that dopaminergic medication does not relevantly influence straight walking and turning in early to moderate PD during DT.