Cochen De Cock, Valérie and Dotov, Dobromir and Damm, Loic and Lacombe, Sandy and Ihalainen, Petra and Picot, Marie Christine and Galtier, Florence and Lebrun, Cindy and Giordano, Aurélie and Driss, Valérie and Geny, Christian and Garzo, Ainara and Hernandez, Erik and Van Dyck, Edith and Leman, Marc and Villing, Rudi and Bardy, Benoit G. and Dalla Bella, Simone (2021) BeatWalk: Personalized Music-Based Gait Rehabilitation in Parkinson’s Disease. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. pp. 1-9. ISSN 1664-1078

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Abstract

Taking regular walks when living with Parkinson’s disease (PD) has beneficial effects on movement and quality of life. Yet, patients usually show reduced physical activity compared to healthy older adults. Using auditory stimulation such as music can facilitate walking but patients vary significantly in their response. An individualized approach adapting musical tempo to patients’ gait cadence, and capitalizing on these individual differences, is likely to provide a rewarding experience, increasing motivation for walk-in PD. We aim to evaluate the observance, safety, tolerance, usability, and enjoyment of a new smartphone application. It was coupled with wearable sensors (BeatWalk) and delivered individualized musical stimulation for gait auto-rehabilitation at home. Forty-five patients with PD underwent a 1-month, outdoor, uncontrolled gait rehabilitation program, using the BeatWalk application (30 min/day, 5 days/ week). The music tempo was being aligned in real-time to patients’ gait cadence in a way that could foster an increase up to +10% of their spontaneous cadence. Open-label evaluation was based on BeatWalk use measures, questionnaires, and a six-minute walk test. Patients used the application 78.8% (±28.2) of the prescribed duration and enjoyed it throughout the program. The application was considered “easy to use” by 75% of the patients. Pain, fatigue, and falls did not increase. Fear of falling decreased and quality of life improved. After the program, patients improved their gait parameters in the six-minute walk test without musical stimulation. BeatWalk is an easy to use, safe, and enjoyable musical application for individualized gait rehabilitation in PD. It increases “walk for exercise” duration thanks to high observance.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Parkinson’s disease; cueing; rhythmic auditory stimulation; physical activity; gait rehabilitation; precision medicine BeatWalk;
Academic Unit:	Assisting Living & Learning,ALL institute Faculty of Science and Engineering > Electronic Engineering Faculty of Science and Engineering > Research Institutes > Hamilton Institute
Item ID:	15708
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.655121
Depositing User:	Rudi Villing
Date Deposited:	22 Mar 2022 12:12
Journal or Publication Title:	Frontiers in Psychology
Publisher:	Frontiers Media
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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