Single- and dual-task gait performance and their diagnostic value in early-stage Parkinson's disease

Gait parameters are considered potential diagnostic markers of Parkinson's disease (PD). We aimed to 1) assess the gait impairment in early-stage PD and its related factors in the single-task (ST) and dual-task (DT) walking tests and 2) evaluate and compare the diagnostic value of gait parameters for early-stage PD under ST and DT conditions.

A total of 97 early-stage PD patients and 41 healthy controls (HC) were enrolled at Hwa Mei hospital. Gait parameters were gathered and compared between the two groups in the ST and DT walking test, controlling for covariates. Utilizing the receiver operating characteristic curve, diagnostic parameters were investigated.

In the ST walking test, significantly altered gait patterns could be observed in early-stage PD patients in all domains of gait, except for asymmetry (P < 0.05). Compared to the ST walking test, the early-stage PD group performed poorly in the DT walking test in the pace, rhythm, variability and postural control domain (P < 0.05). Older, heavier subjects, as well as those with lower height, lower level of education and lower gait velocity, were found to have a poorer gait performance (P < 0.05). Stride length (AUC = 0.823, sensitivity, 68.0%; specificity, 85.4%; P < 0.001) and heel strike angle (AUC = 0.796, sensitivity, 71.1%; specificity, 80.5%; P < 0.001) could distinguish early-stage PD patients from HCs with moderate accuracy, independent of covariates. The diagnostic accuracy of gait parameters under ST conditions were statistically noninferior to those under DT conditions(P>0.05). Combining all gait parameters with diagnostic values under ST and DT walking test, the predictive power significantly increased with an AUC of 0.924 (sensitivity, 85.4%; specificity, 92.7%; P < 0.001).

Gait patterns altered in patients with early-stage PD but the gait symmetry remained preserved. Stride length and heel strike angle were the two most prominent gait parameters of altered gait in early-stage of PD that could serve as diagnostic markers of early-stage PD. Our findings are helpful to understand the gait pattern of early-stage PD and its related factors and can be conducive to the development of new diagnostic tools for early-stage PD.