Instrumental Timed Up and Go test discloses abnormalities in patients with Cervical Dystonia

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Movement Disorders
• Biomechanics

Background:

• Cervical dystonia (CD) is a neurological movement disorder causing involuntary neck muscle contractions and abnormal posture.
• The impact of CD-induced postural changes on gait and overall postural control remains incompletely understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of dystonic posture in cervical dystonia on walking.
• To determine if cervical dystonia leads to significant postural changes during functional mobility tasks.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test for instrumental evaluation.
• Compared spatio-temporal parameters and angular amplitudes during TUG between CD patients and age-matched healthy controls.

Main Results:

• Cervical dystonia patients exhibited significantly longer durations for all TUG sub-phases compared to controls.
• Abnormalities were observed in turning, standing up, and sitting down phases in CD patients.
• No significant differences in flection and extension angular amplitudes were found between groups.

Conclusions:

• Impaired postural control is evident in cervical dystonia patients during gait and postural transitions.
• Findings highlight the need for targeted rehabilitation strategies to enhance postural stability and mitigate fall risk in CD.