Rehabilitation effect of cueing strategies on balance function and gait in patients with Parkinson's disease

Abstract

Objective To explore the effect of cueing strategies on balance function and gait in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD).  Methods A total of 40 PD patients were randomly divided into control group (N = 20) and observation group (N = 20). The patients in control group received routine drug treatment and rehabilitation therapy according to the disease. The patients in observation group received rhythmic recurring cues and one - off cues on the basis of routine treatment. All patients were given rehabilitation therapy for 4 weeks (30 minutes, 5 times a week). Berg Balance Scale (BBS), 10-Meter Walk Test (10MWT), Timed Up and Go Test (TUGT) and Freezing of Gait Questionnaire (FOGQ) were used to evaluate balance function and gait of patients before and after 4 - week training. 10MWT was used to calculate step length and velocity.  Results After 4-week training, BBS score (P = 0.000), step length (P = 0.000) and velocity (P = 0.000) of 10MWT were significantly increased, while TUGT time (P = 0.000) and FOGQ score (P = 0.000) were significantly reduced in both groups. Compared with control group, step length (P = 0.048) and velocity (P = 0.025) of 10MWT were significantly increased, while TUGT time (P =0.023) and FOGQ score (P = 0.034) had a significant decrease in observation group.  Conclusions Both routine rehabilitation therapy and cueing strategies can improve the balance function and gait of PD patients, but cueing strategies had better effect on gait than routine rehabilitation therapy.

DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2017.06.007