Mild Gait Impairment and Its Potential Diagnostic Value in Patients with Early-Stage Parkinson's Disease

METHODS: 32 patients with early-stage PD and 30 healthy control subjects (HC) were enrolled. All participants completed the instrumented stand and walk test, and gait data was collected using wearable sensors. RESULTS: We observed increased variability of stride length (SL) (P < 0.001), stance phase time (StPT) (P = 0.004), and swing phase time (SwPT) (P = 0.011) in PD. There were decreased heel strike (HS) (P = 0.001), range of motion of knee (P = 0.036), and hip joints (P < 0.001) in PD. In symmetry analysis, no difference was found in any of the assessed gait parameters between HC and PD. Only total steps (AUC = 0.763, P < 0.001), SL (AUC = 0.701, P = 0.007), SL variability (AUC = 0.769, P < 0.001), StPT variability (AUC = 0.712, P = 0.004), and SwPT variability (AUC = 0.688, P = 0.011) had potential diagnostic value. When these five gait parameters were combined, the predictive power was found to increase, with the highest AUC of 0.802 (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with early-stage PD presented increased variability but still symmetrical gait pattern. Some specific gait parameters can be applied to diagnose early-stage PD which may increase diagnosis accuracy. Our findings are helpful to improve patient's quality of life.