Effect of type of secondary task on cued gait on people with idiopathic Parkinson's disease

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to find out the effect of the secondary cognitive and motor task on cued gait in people with Idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD). DESIGN AND SETTING: A repeated measure same subject design carried out at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Neurology Department, New Delhi. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The subjects were made to walk in random order on a paper walkway under three conditions: Free walking with cues at preferred walking speed, coin transference while walking with cues at preferred walking speed and digit subtraction while walking with cues at preferred walking speed. OUTCOME: The stride length, cadence, walking speed and stops were recorded. RESULTS: There was a significant reduction in their walking speed and stride length, but increase in the cadence and the number of stops was seen, when they had to perform dual tasks along with the cued gait, but the changes were more pronounced when secondary cognitive task was added to the cued gait in people with idiopathic PD. CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrated that there is a significant difference in the effect of secondary motor task when compared with secondary cognitive task on cued gait parameters in people with Idiopathic PD.