Overall , there are many scales and tests used to assess the balance disorders and disabilities of people with PD .
Postural instability is common in Parkinson ’s disease ( PD ) , often contributing to falls , injuries , and reduced mobility .
In the clinical setting , balance disorder is commonly diagnosed using clinical tests and balance scales , but it is suggested that the most sensitive measurement is the force platform .
The aim of this systematic review was to summarize the methods and various posturographic procedures used to assess the body balance and gait in PD .
Influence of Perturbation Velocity on Balance Control in Parkinson’s Disease
Underlying somatosensory processing deficits of joint rotation velocities may cause patients with Parkinson ’s disease ( PD ) to be more unstable for fast rather than slow balance perturbations . Such deficits could lead to reduced proprioceptive amplitude feedback triggered by perturbations , and thereby to smaller or delayed stabilizing postural responses . For this reason , we investigated whether support surface perturbation velocity affects balance reactions in PD patients . We examined postural responses of seven PD patients ( OFF medication ) and eight age-matched controls following backward rotations of a support-surface platform . Rotations occurred at three different speeds : fast ( 60 deg/s ) , medium ( 30 deg/s ) or slow ( 3.8 deg/s ) , presented in r and om order . Each subject completed the protocol under eyes open and closed conditions . Full body kinematics , ankle torques and the number of near-falls were recorded . Patients were significantly more unstable than controls following fast perturbations ( 26 % larger displacements of the body ’s centre of mass ; P<0.01 ) , but not following slow perturbations . Also , more near-falls occurred in patients for fast rotations . Balance correcting ankle torques were weaker for patients than controls on the most affected side , but were stronger than controls for the least affected side . These differences were present both with eyes open and eyes closed ( P<0.01 ) . Fast support surface rotations caused greater instability and discriminated Parkinson patients better from controls than slow rotations . Although ankle torques on the most affected side were weaker , patients partially compensated for this by generating larger than normal stabilizing torques about the ankle joint on the least affected side . Without this compensation , instability may have been greater
Overall , there are many scales and tests used to assess the balance disorders and disabilities of people with PD .
Postural instability is common in Parkinson ’s disease ( PD ) , often contributing to falls , injuries , and reduced mobility .
In the clinical setting , balance disorder is commonly diagnosed using clinical tests and balance scales , but it is suggested that the most sensitive measurement is the force platform .
The aim of this systematic review was to summarize the methods and various posturographic procedures used to assess the body balance and gait in PD .