Abstract
BACKGROUND: External cues are effective in improving gait in people with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the most effective cueing method has yet to be determined. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the immediate effects of using visual, auditory, or somatosensory cues on their own or in combination during walking compared to no cues in people with PD. METHODS: This was a single blinded, randomly selected, controlled study. Twenty people with PD with an age range of 46-79 years and Hoehn and Yahr scores of 1-3 were recruited. Participants were studied under 4 cueing conditions; no cue, visual, auditory, or somatosensory cues, which were randomly selected individually or in a combination. RESULTS: A repeated measures ANOVA with pairwise comparisons using Bonferroni correction showed that any single or combination of the cues resulted in an improvement in gait velocity and stride length compared to no cue. Some significant differences were also seen when comparing different combinations of cues, specifically stride length showed significant improvements when additional cues were added to the light cue. The statistically significant difference was set at p < 0.05. CONCLUSIONS: Walking using visual, auditory, or somatosensory cues can immediately improve gait mobility in people with PD. Any or a combination of the cues tested could be chosen depending on the ability of the individual to use that cue.