Responsiveness to sensory cues using the Timed Up and Go test in patients with Parkinson's disease: a prospective cohort study.
OBJECTIVE
To test the effectiveness of the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test to define responsiveness to auditory and visual cues in patients with Parkinson's disease.


METHODS
Consecutive patients > 50 years old were enrolled if they were classified as stage 1-3 of the Hoehn and Yahr scale; scored ≤ 45 on part III of the Uniﬁed Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale; > 23 on the Mini-Mental State Examination; and were able to perform the TUG test without assistance. Within-subject analysis identified positive-responders, negative-responders and non-responders. TUG times with and without sensory cues were studied among all patients, and among responders only using the Friedman Test.


RESULTS
Twenty-two patients (16 men, 6 women), mean age 72.4 years (standard deviation (SD) 8.7 years) were included. Basal mean TUG time was 12.3 (SD 4.0). TUG times after visual cues (11.7 (SD 4.8)) were lower than in basal conditions (p = 0.006), whereas TUG times after auditory cues were not (p > 0.05). In the 16 patients who were positive-responders, mean TUG times after visual (11.0 (SD 3.1)) and auditory (11.3 (SD 3.6)) cues were lower than in basal conditions (12.5 (SD 3.8)) (p = 0.0002).


CONCLUSIONS
The TUG test may be used to tailor the rehabilitation programme in patients with Parkinson's disease, identifying those who respond to visual and auditory cueing.
Gait and Posture Analysis Laboratory, Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences, University of Catania, V. le A. Doria 6, 9125 Catania, Italy. mcioni@unict.it.
Matteo
M
Cioni
Oriana
O
Amata
Maria Rosaria
MR
Seminara
Pietro
P
Marano
Filippo
F
Palermo
Viviana
V
Corallo
Luigia
L
Brugliera
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D011446:Prospective Studies; D066191:Sensorimotor Cortex