An evaluation of self-administration of auditory cueing to improve gait in people with Parkinson’s disease

Objective: To evaluate a self-administration of auditory cueing on gait difficulties in people with Parkinson’s disease over a one-week period. Design: Single group pre and post test. Setting: Research lab, community. Participants: Twenty-one individuals with Parkinson’s disease. Interventions: Self-application of an auditory pacer set at a rate 25% faster than preferred cadence. Main outcome measures: Self-selected gait speed, cadence, stride length, and double support time with and without the pacer at the initial visit and after one week of pacer use. Results: During the initial visit, the auditory pacer improved gait speed (79.57 (18.13) cm/s vs. 94.02 (22.61) cm/s, P<0.0005), cadence (102.88 (11.34) step/min vs. 109.22 (10.23) steps/min, P=0.036) and stride length (94.33 (21.31) cm vs. 103.5 (22.65) cm, P =0.012). After one week, preferred gait speed was faster than the initial preferred speed (79.57 (18.13) vs. 95.20 (22.23) cm/s, P<0.0005). Stride length was significantly increased (94.33 (21.31) vs. 107.67 (20.01) cm, P =0.001). Double support time was decreased from 21.73 (5.23) to 18.94 (3.59)% gait cycle, P =0.016. Conclusion: Gait performance in people with Parkinson’s disease improved significantly after walking with the auditory pacer for one week.