The effects of a concurrent motor task on walking in Alzheimer's disease
The important relationship between cognition and gait in people with dementia has been explored with dual-task studies using added cognitive tasks. Effects of less commonly studied but also attention-dividing motor dual-tasks are important to assess in this group as they are common in everyday funct...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
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Elsevier
2014
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/17521 |
| _version_ | 1848749488334700544 |
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| author | Wittwer, J. Webster, K. Hill, Keith |
| author_facet | Wittwer, J. Webster, K. Hill, Keith |
| author_sort | Wittwer, J. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The important relationship between cognition and gait in people with dementia has been explored with dual-task studies using added cognitive tasks. Effects of less commonly studied but also attention-dividing motor dual-tasks are important to assess in this group as they are common in everyday function and may affect gait differently from cognitive dual-tasks. They may also be easier to comprehend allowing their application with more severe cognitive impairment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects and feasibility of a motor dual-task (MDT) on gait measures in people with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Thirty people (15 men, mean age ± SD, 80.2 ± 5.8 years) with a diagnosis of probable AD (MMSE range 8–28) walked on an electronic walkway (i) at self-selected comfortable pace and (ii) at self-selected comfortable pace while carrying a tray and glasses. The MDT produced significant decreases in velocity (Baseline = 111.5 ± 26.5 cm/s, MDT = 96.8 ± 25.7 cm/s, p < 0.001) and stride length (Baseline = 121.4 ± 21.6 cm, MDT = 108.1 ± 21.0 cm, p < 0.001) with medium effect sizes, and increased stride time (Baseline = 1.11 ± 0.11 s, MDT = 1.14 ± 0.12 s, p = 0.001) with small effect size. Measures of spatial (Baseline = 3.2 ± 1.0%, MDT = 3.9 ± 1.5%, p = 0.006) and temporal (Baseline = 2.4 ± 0.8%, MDT = 2.8 ± 0.8%, p = 0.008) variability increased with the motor dual-task, with medium effect sizes. A trend for motor dual-task changes in gait measures to increase with greater disease severity did not reach significance. The tray-carrying task was feasible, even for participants with severe cognitive decline. Further comparison of different types of motor and cognitive dual-tasks may contribute to development of a framework for clinical intervention to improve reduced dual-task walking capacity in people with AD. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T07:21:44Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-17521 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T07:21:44Z |
| publishDate | 2014 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-175212017-09-13T15:44:34Z The effects of a concurrent motor task on walking in Alzheimer's disease Wittwer, J. Webster, K. Hill, Keith The important relationship between cognition and gait in people with dementia has been explored with dual-task studies using added cognitive tasks. Effects of less commonly studied but also attention-dividing motor dual-tasks are important to assess in this group as they are common in everyday function and may affect gait differently from cognitive dual-tasks. They may also be easier to comprehend allowing their application with more severe cognitive impairment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects and feasibility of a motor dual-task (MDT) on gait measures in people with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Thirty people (15 men, mean age ± SD, 80.2 ± 5.8 years) with a diagnosis of probable AD (MMSE range 8–28) walked on an electronic walkway (i) at self-selected comfortable pace and (ii) at self-selected comfortable pace while carrying a tray and glasses. The MDT produced significant decreases in velocity (Baseline = 111.5 ± 26.5 cm/s, MDT = 96.8 ± 25.7 cm/s, p < 0.001) and stride length (Baseline = 121.4 ± 21.6 cm, MDT = 108.1 ± 21.0 cm, p < 0.001) with medium effect sizes, and increased stride time (Baseline = 1.11 ± 0.11 s, MDT = 1.14 ± 0.12 s, p = 0.001) with small effect size. Measures of spatial (Baseline = 3.2 ± 1.0%, MDT = 3.9 ± 1.5%, p = 0.006) and temporal (Baseline = 2.4 ± 0.8%, MDT = 2.8 ± 0.8%, p = 0.008) variability increased with the motor dual-task, with medium effect sizes. A trend for motor dual-task changes in gait measures to increase with greater disease severity did not reach significance. The tray-carrying task was feasible, even for participants with severe cognitive decline. Further comparison of different types of motor and cognitive dual-tasks may contribute to development of a framework for clinical intervention to improve reduced dual-task walking capacity in people with AD. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/17521 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2013.07.126 Elsevier restricted |
| spellingShingle | Wittwer, J. Webster, K. Hill, Keith The effects of a concurrent motor task on walking in Alzheimer's disease |
| title | The effects of a concurrent motor task on walking in Alzheimer's disease |
| title_full | The effects of a concurrent motor task on walking in Alzheimer's disease |
| title_fullStr | The effects of a concurrent motor task on walking in Alzheimer's disease |
| title_full_unstemmed | The effects of a concurrent motor task on walking in Alzheimer's disease |
| title_short | The effects of a concurrent motor task on walking in Alzheimer's disease |
| title_sort | effects of a concurrent motor task on walking in alzheimer's disease |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/17521 |