The Effects of Auditory Cues on Gait Mechanics in Parkinson's Disease

Summary

The purpose of this study is to determine how using auditory cues of a metronome and music at various frequencies impacts the gait mechanics in people with Parkinson's disease when walking over ground and on a treadmill.

The investigators will enroll a total of 40 participants: 30 subjects with a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease (10 in Stage 1, 10 in Stage 2, and 10 in Stage 3) and 10 unimpaired subjects.

Participants will complete 7 different treadmill walking conditions and overground walking conditions while the investigators measure step length, cadence, gait speed, and variability of movement.

Conditions

• Parkinson Disease

Interventions

OTHER

Metronome Normal

Steps are timed with the beat of the metronome set to the subject's cadence

OTHER

Metronome Slow

Steps are timed with the beat of the metronome set to 85% of the subject's cadence

OTHER

Metronome Fast

Steps are timed with the beat of the metronome set to 115% of the subject's cadence

OTHER

Music Normal

Steps are timed with the beat of the music by a rhythm consistent with the subject's cadence

OTHER

Music Slow

Steps are timed with the beat of the music by a rhythm consistent with 85% of the subject's cadence

OTHER

Music Fast

Steps are timed with the beat of the music by a rhythm consistent with 115% of the subject's cadence

OTHER

No Auditory cueing

Steps are not timed with any auditory cue.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Guneet Chawla · University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

• Michael Lewek, PT, PhD · University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

CROSSOVER

Eligibility

Min Age

21 Years

Max Age

99 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2017-09-15

Primary Completion

2018-08-01

Completion

2018-08-01

Countries

• United States

Study Locations