Sex-related differences in the posture and vertical perception of gait function in patients with Parkinson's disease

Although several factors, such as sex and body schema, contribute to gait function, factors for gait dysfunction in Parkinson's disease (PD) have not been elucidated. Postural verticality, a higher-order neural mechanism of gait, is involved in generation of a gait program in healthy individuals; however, its role in patients with PD is unclear. Although subjective postural vertical (SPV), which denotes cognitive information about posture with verticality as the reference axis, is anteriorly and laterally shifted in patients with PD, the presence of sex-related differences in SPV and effect of SPV on gait function remain unclear. Since SPV affects the degree of flexion and lateral bending posture and long-term prognosis of PD, factors affecting SPV in patients with PD should be clarified to improve gait function.

Is vertical perception of posture (i.e., SPV) related to gait function in patients with PD? Are there any sex-related differences?

The gait and SPV were evaluated in 59 adult outpatients with PD (31 men and 28 women) using five gait (step length, walking speed, coefficient of variation of step time [step CV], cadence, and mean gait acceleration [acceleration]) and two SPV (SPV in the sagittal and coronal planes) assessments and compared between the sexes.

No sex-related differences were observed in the SPV in patients with PD. The SPV and gait assessments demonstrated no association in men. Walking speed and SPV in the sagittal plane (p = 0.029), and step CV and SPV in the coronal (p = 0.018) and sagittal planes (p = 0.032) were correlated in women.

Although no sex-related differences in the SPV were observed, our results demonstrated that the SPV is involved in gait function in women but not in men with PD.