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CC BY 4.0 · Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2025; 83(03): s00451806821
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1806821
Original Article

Evaluation of mobility parameters in individuals with Parkinson's disease with and without freezing of gait

Cristiane Ramos de Morais 
1   Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Faculdade de Engenharia Elétrica, Núcleo de Inovação e Avaliação Tecnológica em Saúde, Uberlândia MG, Brazil.
,
Tamine T. C. Capato 
2   Universidade de São Paulo, Faculdade de Medicina, Departamento de Neurologia, São Paulo SP, Brazil.
3   Radboud University Medical Centre, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Department of Neurology, Centre of Expertise for Parkinson & Movement Disorders, Nijmegen GE The Netherlands.
,
Ariana Moura Cabral 
1   Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Faculdade de Engenharia Elétrica, Núcleo de Inovação e Avaliação Tecnológica em Saúde, Uberlândia MG, Brazil.
,
Adriano de Oliveira Andrade 
1   Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Faculdade de Engenharia Elétrica, Núcleo de Inovação e Avaliação Tecnológica em Saúde, Uberlândia MG, Brazil.
› Author Affiliations Support The authors declare that the present work was carried out with the support of Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq–442150/2023-7 and 405365/2023-3), Fundação Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES–Program CAPES/COFECUB-88881.370894/2019-01), and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG). AOA (302942/2022-0) and AMC (174190/2023-9) are CNPq fellows.
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Abstract

Background Individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) often experience gait disturbances, and one of the most disabling is freezing of gait (FOG), which is characterized by the inability to initiate or continue walking. To identify its impact on the mobility of PD patients, it is necessary to objectively assess mobility and conduct systematic gait evaluations.

Objective To evaluate mobility and gait parameters in individuals with PD with and without FOG.

Methods The present cross-sectional study included a group of individuals with PD, divided into those with and without FOG, and a healthy control group. The Timed Up and Go (TUG) test was used to evaluate gait and mobility of the participants. Activities of daily living and motor performance in PD patients were assessed through parts II and III of the Movement Disorder Society Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS), while FOG was assessed through the New Freezing of Gait Questionnaire (NFOG-Q).

Results A significant difference between the case and control groups was observed in the mean time it took to perform the TUG test, regardless of FOG, during the off-medication state. Unlike the group without FOG, there was a difference in the time it took to perform the tests between medication states in the group with FOG. Additionally, a correlation was found between TUG time and MDS-UPDRS scores in the FOG group.

Conclusion Mobility in PD is influenced by medication effect and the presence of FOG. The results highlight the importance of objective and systematic gait evaluations to identify mobility problems, develop effective rehabilitation strategies, and optimize pharmacological treatments, especially for individuals with FOG.

Keywords

Parkinson Disease - Gait - Freezing - Rehabilitation - Mobility Limitation

Authors' Contributions

Conceptualization: CRM, AOA; Data curation: CRM; Formal analysis: AMC, AOA; Funding acquisition: AOA; Investigation: CRM, AOA; Methodology: CRM, TTCC, AMC, AOA; Project administration: CRM; Resources: AOA; Software: AMC, AOA; Supervision: AOA; Validation: CRM, TTCC, AMC, AOA; Visualization: CRM, TTCC, AMC, AOA; Writing - original draft: CRM, TTCC, AMC, AOA; Writing - review & editing: CRM, TTCC, AMC, AOA. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript and agree to be responsible for all aspects of the work.


Data Availability Statement

Data cannot be made publicly available. The database cannot be made available due to ethical reasons.


Editor-in-Chief: Hélio A. G. Teive.


Associate Editor: Chien Hsin Fen.




Publication History

Received: 27 September 2024

Accepted: 07 January 2025

Article published online:
27 April 2025

© 2025. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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Bibliographical Record
Cristiane Ramos de Morais, Tamine T. C. Capato, Ariana Moura Cabral, Adriano de Oliveira Andrade. Evaluation of mobility parameters in individuals with Parkinson's disease with and without freezing of gait. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2025; 83: s00451806821.
DOI: 10.1055/s-0045-1806821
 

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