Freezing gait in Parkinson's disease.
Freezing is a well-known problem in Parkinson's disease (PD) and is characterized by an abrupt difficulty in starting or continuing rhythmic and repetitive movements. We utilized a questionnaire in order to assess the occurrence of the freezing gait phenomenon (FG) in a population of 100 consecutive PD patients. Our PD population included 70 males and 30 females, with a mean age of 61.1 +/- 9.1 years. Mean duration of PD was 6.5 +/- 4.0 years. 92/100 patients were under L-Dopa treatment. The FG phenomenon occurred in 60% of patients. It appeared on average 4.8 years after the beginning of PD; in 16% of the cases it was evident before starting L-Dopa treatment. FG was more frequent among female patients. There was no significant correlation between the occurrence of FG and the age of the patients; on the other hand, a significant correlation was found with the duration of the disease (p < 0.001). FG occurred more frequently in the subgroup of patients with the akinetic form (odds ratio: 3.05); whilst an opposite tendency was evident in the subgroup with the tremor predominant form (odds ratio: 0.29).
Lamberti
P
P
Institute of Neurology, University of Bari, Italy.
Armenise
S
S
Castaldo
V
V
de Mari
M
M
Iliceto
G
G
Tronci
P
P
Serlenga
L
L
D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires