Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

To maintain stability during turning the walking pattern needs adjustment in order to compensate for the tilting of the upper body into the new direction. For individuals with Parkinson's disease, turning while walking is a difficult task as it is for many a reason for falls and injuries. As a first step to provide adequate treatment of these mobility impairments, this project explored how individuals with Parkinson's disease stabilized their body during turning, compared to healthy older adults, and whether turning difficulties could be improved by conventional Parkinson-medication. Individuals with Parkinson's disease and healthy older adults were assessed while walking straight, or walking and turning 180° in a movement laboratory. Two types of turns were performed; one when the turning direction was known in advance or when the participants turned - in an unpredictable manner - in response to a visual signal. To evaluate the effects of Parkinson-medication, individuals with Parkinson's disease were first assessed after being without their medication for about 16 hours and subsequently after taking their normal medication. Our findings showed that individuals with Parkinson's disease, compared to healthy controls, leaned their pelvis closer to the margins of their feet while turning. As this is an unstable turning strategy it could be a possible explanation as to why turning often leads to falls for individuals with Parkinson's disease. Our findings also suggest that problems with changing the step width (distance between the heels) while turning is substantially a key contributing factor for stability in Parkinson's disease. Finally, as Parkinson-medication had little effect on turning stability, rehabilitation plays a crucial role in targeting turning instability in individuals with Parkinson's disease.