Chiara Palmisano1, Gregor Brandt2, Nicoló Gabriele Pozzi2, Alice Leporini2, Virginia Maltese2, Andrea Canessa3, Jens Volkmann2, Gianni Pezzoli4, Carlo Albino Frigo5, Ioannis Ugo Isaias6. 1. Department of Neurology, University Hospital and Julius-Maximilian-University, Josef-Schneider-Str. 11, 97080 Würzburg, Germany; Department of Electronic, Information and Bioengineering, MBMC Lab, Politecnico di Milano, via Colombo 40, 20133 Milan, Italy. 2. Department of Neurology, University Hospital and Julius-Maximilian-University, Josef-Schneider-Str. 11, 97080 Würzburg, Germany. 3. Department of Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics and System Engineering, University of Genoa, via all'Opera Pia 13a, 16145 Genoa, Italy; Fondazione Europea di Ricerca Biomedica (FERB Onlus), Via Uboldo 18, 20063 Cernusco s/N, Milan, Italy. 4. Centro Parkinson ASST G. Pini-CTO, via Bignami 1, 20126 Milan, Italy. 5. Department of Electronic, Information and Bioengineering, MBMC Lab, Politecnico di Milano, via Colombo 40, 20133 Milan, Italy. 6. Department of Neurology, University Hospital and Julius-Maximilian-University, Josef-Schneider-Str. 11, 97080 Würzburg, Germany; Centro Parkinson ASST G. Pini-CTO, via Bignami 1, 20126 Milan, Italy. Electronic address: Isaias_I@ukw.de.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Falls are one of the main concerns in people with Parkinson's disease, leading to poor quality of life and increased mortality. The sit-to-walk movement is the most frequent postural transition task during daily life and is highly demanding in terms of balance maintenance and muscular strength. METHODS: With the aim of identifying biomechanical variables of high risk of falling, we investigated the sit-to-walk task performed by 9 Parkinson's disease patients with at least one fall episode in the six months preceding this study, 15 Parkinson's disease patients without previous falls, and 20 healthy controls. Motor performance was evaluated with an optoelectronic system and two dynamometric force plates after overnight suspension of all dopaminergic drugs and one hour after consumption of a standard dose of levodopa/benserazide. FINDINGS: Poor trunk movements critically influenced the execution of the sit-to-walk movement in patients with a history of falling. The peak velocity of the trunk in the anterior-posterior direction discriminated faller from non-faller patients, with high specificity and sensitivity in both the medication-off and -on state. INTERPRETATION: Our results confirm the difficulties in merging consecutive motor tasks in patients with Parkinson's disease. Trunk movements during the sit-to-walk can provide valuable measurements to monitor and possibly predict the risk of falling.
BACKGROUND:Falls are one of the main concerns in people with Parkinson's disease, leading to poor quality of life and increased mortality. The sit-to-walk movement is the most frequent postural transition task during daily life and is highly demanding in terms of balance maintenance and muscular strength. METHODS: With the aim of identifying biomechanical variables of high risk of falling, we investigated the sit-to-walk task performed by 9 Parkinson's diseasepatients with at least one fall episode in the six months preceding this study, 15 Parkinson's diseasepatients without previous falls, and 20 healthy controls. Motor performance was evaluated with an optoelectronic system and two dynamometric force plates after overnight suspension of all dopaminergic drugs and one hour after consumption of a standard dose of levodopa/benserazide. FINDINGS: Poor trunk movements critically influenced the execution of the sit-to-walk movement in patients with a history of falling. The peak velocity of the trunk in the anterior-posterior direction discriminated faller from non-fallerpatients, with high specificity and sensitivity in both the medication-off and -on state. INTERPRETATION: Our results confirm the difficulties in merging consecutive motor tasks in patients with Parkinson's disease. Trunk movements during the sit-to-walk can provide valuable measurements to monitor and possibly predict the risk of falling.
Authors: Zhuang Wu; Hang Xu; Sha Zhu; Ruxin Gu; Min Zhong; Xu Jiang; Bo Shen; Jun Zhu; Yang Pan; Jingde Dong; Jun Yan; Wenbin Zhang; Li Zhang Journal: Risk Manag Healthc Policy Date: 2021-03-15
Authors: Chiara Palmisano; Peter Kullmann; Ibrahem Hanafi; Marta Verrecchia; Marc Erich Latoschik; Andrea Canessa; Martin Fischbach; Ioannis Ugo Isaias Journal: Front Hum Neurosci Date: 2022-03-23 Impact factor: 3.169
Authors: Nicoló G Pozzi; Andrea Canessa; Chiara Palmisano; Joachim Brumberg; Frank Steigerwald; Martin M Reich; Brigida Minafra; Claudio Pacchetti; Gianni Pezzoli; Jens Volkmann; Ioannis U Isaias Journal: Brain Date: 2019-07-01 Impact factor: 13.501
Authors: Chiara Palmisano; Gregor Brandt; Matteo Vissani; Nicoló G Pozzi; Andrea Canessa; Joachim Brumberg; Giorgio Marotta; Jens Volkmann; Alberto Mazzoni; Gianni Pezzoli; Carlo A Frigo; Ioannis U Isaias Journal: Front Bioeng Biotechnol Date: 2020-03-06