title: The immediate effect of a novel audio-visual cueing strategy (simulated traffic lights) on dual-task walking in people with Parkinson's disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Gait deficits are exacerbated during the addition of a concurrent cognitive task in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD). The provision of auditory and/or visual cues has been reported to facilitate gait performance in these patients.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate whether individuals with PD could use traffic lights as an audio-visual cueing strategy to enhance dual-task walking performance.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional comparative study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifteen PD and 13 healthy individuals.
  
  
  METHODS
  All participants were instructed to walk at their natural pace, followed by 2 randomized conditions: 1) walking while doing serial subtractions of three, starting from a random number between 60 to 100; 2) doing the same tasks with the addition of traffic lights signals as audio-visual cues. Primary outcomes included stride length, cadence and gait velocity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Individuals with PD had more deterioration in all gait parameters than healthy controls for both single- and dual-task walking. With the use of traffic lights, individuals with PD showed significant increases in stride length (by 8.8%), cadence (by 9.6%), and gait velocity (by 21.0%, P=0.000).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Traffic lights could be used as combined preparatory and ongoing audio-visual cues to enhance dual-task walking performance in people with PD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Positive findings from the present study suggest a promising treatment intervention to benefit people with PD, who often have to conduct concurrent cognitive task during walking in their daily activities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong. rsmmak@inet.polyu.edu.hk
authors.forename: M K Y
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Mak
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: C W Y
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Hui-Chan
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D020233:Gait Disorders, Neurologic / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance