Correlation Between Lower Limb Coordination And Walking Speed And Distance In Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’sdisease is defined as a progressive neurological condition. These results dueto dopamine deficiency as basal ganglia dysfunction occurs. The dysfunction ofbasal ganglia directly interferes with voluntary movements, sequentialprocesses and complex motor skills are difficult to perform. Therefore, it iscommon for gait deformities to occur. Coordination requires a complexinteraction between biomechanics and neurophysiological factors.

 Parkinson’sdisease is caused by the degeneration of substantia nigra which leads todysfunction of basal ganglia. The cardinal features of Parkinson’s disease arecharacterised by motor symptoms such as bradykinesia, rigidity, tremors andakinesia.There are various levels at which the effects ofParkinson disease can be described. Within the brain, the major pathologicalchange is progressive degeneration of neurons in pars compacta of substantianigra which is one of the nuclei that constitutes the basal ganglia. Theseneurons usually transmit dopamine to the striatum, which is another basalganglia nucleus. But their degeneration leads to dysfunction of these neuronalcircuits which include the basal ganglia and thee motor cortical areas.Abnormalities of movements such as movement slowness, difficulty with gait andbalance are also the primary manifestation of Parkinson’s disease. Anomaly ofmuscle activity and the neuronal activity correlate with the motor symptoms. Inother terms motor symptoms can also be described in context of motor controlthat explains how movement variables, such as limbs position and speed, arecoordinated and controlled. To understand motor symptoms as motor controlabnormalities defines how the disease disrupts normal control processes. Fore.g., in Parkinson disease the slowness of movement, would be explained asdisruption of a control processes that determine the normal movement speed.

 Gaithypokinesia is one of the major symptoms of Parkinson disease that can be seenfrom the early stages of the disease. Even if the patients have not begun withanti-parkinsonian medicine course yet, may tend to have a slower gait speed ascompared to healthy individuals. Most patients with Hoehn and Yahr scale stageof 2-3 require assistance for walking. Recently gait has been accepted as an executivefunction rather than just a simple motor function that can be affected bycognitive impairments. It is stated the gait speed is negatively correlated. Gait speed is also correlated with cognitive state and the deceleration of gaitspeed can even occur before a cognitive disorder starts.

 Asgait disorders in Parkinson’s disease are hallmark of the condition they haveled to loss of independence and an increased risk of falls. Theessential component of daily activities is walking which is a dynamic, rhythmicand complex task. This involves the central nervous system (CNS) to adopt highlevels of information processing and control strategies to accuratelycoordinate gait cycles.

 Nostudy has been conducted to evaluate the relationship between lower limbcoordination with walking speed and distance in people with Parkinson’sdisease. Hence the purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationshipbetween coordination of lower limbs with walking speed and distance.

 RESEARCHQUESTION

Isthere a correlation between lower limb coordination and walking speed anddistance in people with Parkinson’s disease?

HYPOTHESIS(H1): There is a correlation between lower limb coordinationand walking speed and distance in people with Parkinson’s disease.

NULLHYPOTHESIS (H0):

Thereis no correlation between lower limb coordination and walking speed anddistance in people with Parkinson’s disease