Spatial and temporal gait parameters in Alzheimer's disease and aging

Spatial and temporal gait parameters in 40 patients with early Alzheimer's disease (AD) were compared to that of 34 normal controls (NC) on a level ground and on a treadmill. Over-ground velocity, cycle-time, cadence, stride-length, stride-width and double-support time were captured on an electronic walkway. On the treadmill, cadence, cycle-time and double-support time were recorded at a preferred velocity using footswitches. The AD group were significantly slower on the Timed Up and Go task compared to NC (p<0.05). AD patients differed significantly from the NC on their over-ground gait velocity (99+/-19 cm/s vs 119+15 cm/s, p<0.001), cadence (101+/-9 steps/min vs 109+/-9 steps/min, p=0.001) and stride-length (118+/-18 cm vs 131+/-17 cm, p<0.01). On the treadmill, only preferred speed was significantly different in the AD group compared to the NC group (60+/-20 cm/s vs 74+/-23 cm/s, p=0.02). These results indicate that patients with early AD walk slower and with shorter strides than healthy older adults.