The Parkinsonian Gait Spatiotemporal Parameters Quantified by a Single Inertial Sensor before and after Automated Mechanical Peripheral Stimulation Treatment

This study aims to evaluate the change in gait spatiotemporal parameters in subjects with Parkinson's disease (PD) before and after Automated Mechanical Peripheral Stimulation (AMPS) treatment. Thirty-five subjects with PD and 35 healthy age-matched subjects took part in this study. A dedicated medical device (Gondola) was used to administer the AMPS. All patients with PD were treated in off levodopa phase and their gait performances were evaluated by an inertial measurement system before and after the intervention. The one-way ANOVA for repeated measures was performed to assess the differences between pre- and post-AMPS and the one-way ANOVA to assess the differences between PD patients and the control group. Spearman's correlations assessed the associations between patients with PD clinical status (H&Y) and the percentage of improvement of the gait variables after AMPS (α < 0.05 for all tests). The PD group had an improvement of 14.85% in the stride length; 14.77% in the gait velocity; and 29.91% in the gait propulsion. The correlation results showed that the higher the H&Y classification, the higher the stride length percentage of improvement. The treatment based on AMPS intervention seems to induce a better performance in the gait pattern of PD patients, mainly in intermediate and advanced stages of the condition.