Abstract written by Pandit Tejal

Protas, E., Mitchell, K., Williams, A., Qureshy, H., Caroline, K., Laib, E. (2005). Gait and step training to reduce falls in Parkinson's disease. Neurorehabilitation, (20); 183-190.

The purpose of this pilot study was to record the effects of gait and step training in 18 individuals with idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) who had reduced balance, and/or recent problems with falls. The subjects were randomly assigned to either the training or control group, with the training group receiving gait training (treadmill) and step training three times per week for eight weeks. Gait was assessed by gait speed (meters/second), cadence (steps/second) and stride length (centimeters). This task-specific gait and step training resulted in a reduction in falls and improvement in gait speed, cadence, stride length and dynamic balance in individuals with postural instability, gait difficulty, pre-dominant PD, and moderate disease symptoms. This study lends support for treadmill and step exercise in improving gait speed, dynamic balance, and reducing number of falls therefore significantly affecting daily functional performance and independence of people with PD.

To read the full abstract, go to http://www.ncpad.org/research/fact_sheet.php?sheet=608.