The Experts below are selected from a list of 309 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Olivier Beauchet - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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poor Gait performance and prediction of dementia results from a meta analysis
Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 2016Co-Authors: Cédric Annweiler, Olivier Beauchet, Michele L Callisaya, Annemarie De Cock, Jorunn L Helbostad, Reto W Kressig, Velandai Srikanth, Jeanpaul SteinmetzAbstract:Abstract Background Poor Gait performance predicts risk of developing dementia. No structured critical evaluation has been conducted to study this association yet. The aim of this meta-analysis was to systematically examine the association of poor Gait performance with incidence of dementia. Methods An English and French Medline search was conducted in June 2015, with no limit of date, using the medical subject headings terms “Gait” OR “Gait Disorders, Neurologic” OR “Gait Apraxia” OR “Gait Ataxia” AND “Dementia” OR “Frontotemporal Dementia” OR “Dementia, Multi-Infarct” OR “Dementia, Vascular” OR “Alzheimer Disease” OR “Lewy Body Disease” OR “Frontotemporal Dementia With Motor Neuron Disease” (Supplementary Concept). Poor Gait performance was defined by standardized tests of walking, and dementia was diagnosed according to international consensus criteria. Four etiologies of dementia were identified: any dementia, Alzheimer disease (AD), vascular dementia (VaD), and non-AD (ie, pooling VaD, mixed dementias, and other dementias). Fixed effects meta-analyses were performed on the estimates in order to generate summary values. Results Of the 796 identified abstracts, 12 (1.5%) were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. Poor Gait performance predicted dementia [pooled hazard ratio (HR) combined with relative risk and odds ratio = 1.53 with P Conclusions This meta-analysis provides evidence that poor Gait performance predicts dementia. This association depends on the type of dementia; poor Gait performance is a stronger predictor of non-AD dementias than AD.
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Anti-dementia drugs-related changes in Gait performance while single and dual tasking in patients with Alzheimer disease: a meta-analysis.
Current Alzheimer research, 2015Co-Authors: Olivier Beauchet, Manuel Montero-odasso, Cédric Annweiler, Cyrille P. Launay, Gilles AllaliAbstract:BACKGROUND: The effects of anti-dementia drugs on Gait performance in Alzheimer disease (AD) are questionable. The objective of this meta-analysis was to examine the effects of anti-dementia drugs on the mean value and the coefficient of variation (CoV) of stride time among patients with AD while taking into account the type of drugs (i.e., acetylcholinesterase inhibitors [AChEIs] versus memantine) and the walking conditions (i.e., single versus dual-task). METHODS: An English and French Medline search was conducted in March 2015, with no limit of date, using the Medical Subject Headings terms "pharmaceutical preparations" combined with terms "Pharmaceutical preparations" OR "Therapeutic uses" OR "Drug substitution" OR "Drugs essential" OR "Drugs, Generic" OR "Psychotropic drugs" combined with "Delirium" OR "Dementia" OR "Amnestic" OR "Cognitive disorders" AND "Gait" OR "Gait Ataxia" OR "Gait disorders, Neurologic" OR "Gait Apraxia". Fixed-effects meta-analyses were used to examine anti-dementia drugs-related changes in mean value and CoV of stride time. RESULTS: Of the 66 identified abstracts, 5 (7.6%) were included in the meta-analysis. Inter-group comparison of between-visit change underscored a significant decrease in CoV of stride time (P0.06). Intra-group changes in stride time parameters following the use of anti-dementia drugs showed a significant decrease for memantine (PCONCLUSIONS: Anti-dementia drugs demonstrated a significant improvement of Gait performance with specific class effect depending on the walking conditions and on the type of stride time parameters considered. Language: en
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fear of falling and Gait variability in older adults a systematic review and meta analysis
Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 2015Co-Authors: Farah Ayoubi, Cédric Annweiler, Cyrille P. Launay, Olivier BeauchetAbstract:Background: Fear of falling (FOF) and increased Gait variability are both independent markers of Gait instability. There is a complex interplay between both entities. The purposes of this study were (1) to perform a qualitative analysis of all published studies on FOF-related changes in Gait variability through a systematic review, and (2) to quantitatively synthesize FOF-related changes in Gait variability. Methods: A systematic Medline literature search was conducted in May 2014 using the Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) terms “Fear” OR “fear of falling” combined with “Accidental Falls” AND “Gait” OR “Gait Apraxia” OR “Gait Ataxia” OR “Gait disorders, Neurologic” OR “Gait assessment” OR “Functional Gait assessment” AND “Self efficacy” OR “Self confidence” AND “Aged” OR “Aged, 80 and over.” Systematic review and fixed-effects meta-analysis using an inverse-variance method were performed. Results: Of the 2184 selected studies, 10 observational studies (including 5 cross-sectional studies, 4 prospective cohort studies, and 1 case-control study) met the selection criteria. All were of good quality. The number of participants ranged from 52 to 1307 older community-dwellers (26.2%e85.0% women). The meta-analysis was performed on 10 studies with a total of 999 cases and 4502 controls. In one study, the higher limits of the effect size’ sc onfidence interval (CI) were lower than zero. In the remaining studies, the higher limits of the CI were positive. The summary random effect size of 0.29 (95% CI 0.13 e0.45) was significant albeit of small magnitude, and indicated that Gait variability was overall 0.29 SD higher in FOF cases compared with controls. Conclusions: Our findings show that FOF is associated with a statistically significant, albeit of small magnitude, increase in Gait variability. 2015 AMDA e The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine.
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Changes in Gait Variability with Anti-dementia Drugs: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
CNS Drugs, 2014Co-Authors: Olivier Beauchet, Gilles Allali, Cyrille P. Launay, Cédric AnnweilerAbstract:Background Studies have examined the effects of anti-dementia drugs on Gait performance. No structured critical evaluation of these studies has been done so far. The objectives of this study were (1) to perform a qualitative analysis of all published studies on changes in stride time variability (STV) with anti-dementia drugs among patients with Alzheimer disease through a systematic review, and (2) to quantitatively synthesize anti-dementia drug-related changes in STV. Methods An English and French MEDLINE search was conducted on November 2013, with no limit of date, using the Medical Subject Headings term “pharmaceutical preparations” combined with “delirium”, “dementia”, “amnestic”, “cognitive disorders” AND “Gait” OR “Gait disorders, neurologic” OR “Gait Apraxia”. Fixed-effects meta-analyses were performed to compare STV before and after the use of anti-dementia drugs, and to compare the final STV among participants in intervention and control groups. Results Of the 110 originally identified abstracts, four studies (i.e., one assessing galantamine, one donepezil, one memantine, and one memantine and acetylcholinesterase inhibitors) were included in the qualitative review, and three studies in the quantitative synthesis. Results were mixed, as two studies showed significant between-visit improvements (i.e., decrease in mean value) in STV, while one study did not, and the last one reported mixed results. In the meta-analysis, there was no difference between intervention and control groups (summary mean difference of final STV = −0.38 % [95 % confidence interval −1.14 to 0.37]) and no before–after difference in the intervention group (summary mean difference of STV = 0.66 [95 % confidence interval −0.17 to 1.49]). Conclusions Our findings showed inconclusive effects of anti-dementia drugs on STV.
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Questioning vitamin D status of elderly fallers and nonfallers: a meta-analysis to address a ‘forgotten step’
Journal of internal medicine, 2014Co-Authors: Cédric Annweiler, Olivier BeauchetAbstract:BACKGROUND: Previous meta-analyses to determine the efficacy of vitamin D supplementation to prevent falls in the elderly have shown mixed results. Inconsistencies might depend on the dose of supplements, suggesting that serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) concentration could influence the risk of falling. Our objective was to systematically review and quantitatively analyse the relationship between serum 25OHD concentration and the occurrence of falls. METHODS: A Medline search was conducted in December 2013, with no date limit, using the Medical Subject Heading terms 'Vitamin D' OR 'Ergocalciferols' OR 'Vitamin D deficiency' combined with 'Accidental Falls' OR 'Gait disorders, neurologic' OR 'Gait Apraxia' OR 'Gait' OR 'Recurrent Falls' OR 'Falling'. Fixed and random-effects meta-analyses were performed to determine (i) the effect size of the difference in 25OHD concentration between fallers and non-fallers and (ii) the risk of falling according to serum 25OHD concentration. RESULTS: Of the 659 retrieved studies, 18 observational studies - including ten cross-sectional and eight cohort studies - met the selection criteria. All were of good quality. The number of participants ranged from 80-2957 (44-100% women); 11.0% to 69.3% were fallers. Serum 25OHD concentrations were 0.33 x SD lower in fallers compared to non-fallers [pooled effect size 0.33; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.18-0.47]. The risk of falls was inversely associated with serum 25OHD concentration [summary odds ratio (OR) 0.97; 95% CI 0.96-0.99]. The association between falls and hypovitaminosis D varied according to the definition used; the summary OR for falls was 1.23 (95% CI 0.94-1.60) for 25OHD CONCLUSIONS: Fallers have lower 25OHD concentrations, notably more often Language: en
S Della Sala - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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walking difficulties in patients with alzheimer s disease might originate from Gait Apraxia
Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 2004Co-Authors: S Della Sala, H Spinnler, Annalena VenneriAbstract:Objectives: To investigate whether Gait Apraxia is a possible cause for some of the walking abnormalities shown by patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Methods: 60 patients with Alzheimer’s disease, selected as being free from overt extrapyramidal impairment or other potential causes of walking deficits, were assessed with a new test evaluating aspects of walking and related movements. Norms for this test were collected from a sample of 182 healthy volunteers. Results: 40% of the Alzheimer group performed below the cut off score on this test, and half performed poorly. Performance of the Alzheimer group in the walking skills test correlated highly with scores in a test assessing limb Apraxia and with dementia severity. Conclusions: Gait Apraxia may be the cause of walking disorders found in a subgroup of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Its detection is made easier by the use of a standardised test, but still relies heavily on the exclusion of other causes of walking deficits. It is a recognisable and independent form of Apraxia.
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Walking difficulties in patients with Alzheimer’s disease might originate from Gait Apraxia
Journal of neurology neurosurgery and psychiatry, 2004Co-Authors: S Della Sala, H Spinnler, Annalena VenneriAbstract:Objectives: To investigate whether Gait Apraxia is a possible cause for some of the walking abnormalities shown by patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Methods: 60 patients with Alzheimer’s disease, selected as being free from overt extrapyramidal impairment or other potential causes of walking deficits, were assessed with a new test evaluating aspects of walking and related movements. Norms for this test were collected from a sample of 182 healthy volunteers. Results: 40% of the Alzheimer group performed below the cut off score on this test, and half performed poorly. Performance of the Alzheimer group in the walking skills test correlated highly with scores in a test assessing limb Apraxia and with dementia severity. Conclusions: Gait Apraxia may be the cause of walking disorders found in a subgroup of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Its detection is made easier by the use of a standardised test, but still relies heavily on the exclusion of other causes of walking deficits. It is a recognisable and independent form of Apraxia.
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Gait Apraxia after bilateral supplementary motor area lesion
Journal of neurology neurosurgery and psychiatry, 2002Co-Authors: S Della Sala, A Francescani, H SpinnlerAbstract:Objectives: The study aimed at addressing the issue of the precise nature of Gait Apraxia and the cerebral dysfunction responsible for it. Methods: The case of a patient, affected by a bilateral infarction limited to a portion of the anterior cerebral artery territory is reported. The patient's ability to walk was formally assessed by means of a new standardised test. Results: Due to an anomaly within the anterior cerebral artery system, the patient's lesion was centred on the supplementary motor regions of both hemispheres. He presented with clear signs of Gait Apraxia that could not be accounted for by paresis or other neurological deficits. No signs of any other form of Apraxia were detected. Conclusions: The clinical profile of the patient and the analysis of 49 cases from previous literature suggest that Gait Apraxia should be considered a clinical entity in its own right and lesions to the supplementary motor areas are responsible for it.
H Spinnler - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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walking difficulties in patients with alzheimer s disease might originate from Gait Apraxia
Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 2004Co-Authors: S Della Sala, H Spinnler, Annalena VenneriAbstract:Objectives: To investigate whether Gait Apraxia is a possible cause for some of the walking abnormalities shown by patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Methods: 60 patients with Alzheimer’s disease, selected as being free from overt extrapyramidal impairment or other potential causes of walking deficits, were assessed with a new test evaluating aspects of walking and related movements. Norms for this test were collected from a sample of 182 healthy volunteers. Results: 40% of the Alzheimer group performed below the cut off score on this test, and half performed poorly. Performance of the Alzheimer group in the walking skills test correlated highly with scores in a test assessing limb Apraxia and with dementia severity. Conclusions: Gait Apraxia may be the cause of walking disorders found in a subgroup of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Its detection is made easier by the use of a standardised test, but still relies heavily on the exclusion of other causes of walking deficits. It is a recognisable and independent form of Apraxia.
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Walking difficulties in patients with Alzheimer’s disease might originate from Gait Apraxia
Journal of neurology neurosurgery and psychiatry, 2004Co-Authors: S Della Sala, H Spinnler, Annalena VenneriAbstract:Objectives: To investigate whether Gait Apraxia is a possible cause for some of the walking abnormalities shown by patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Methods: 60 patients with Alzheimer’s disease, selected as being free from overt extrapyramidal impairment or other potential causes of walking deficits, were assessed with a new test evaluating aspects of walking and related movements. Norms for this test were collected from a sample of 182 healthy volunteers. Results: 40% of the Alzheimer group performed below the cut off score on this test, and half performed poorly. Performance of the Alzheimer group in the walking skills test correlated highly with scores in a test assessing limb Apraxia and with dementia severity. Conclusions: Gait Apraxia may be the cause of walking disorders found in a subgroup of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Its detection is made easier by the use of a standardised test, but still relies heavily on the exclusion of other causes of walking deficits. It is a recognisable and independent form of Apraxia.
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Gait Apraxia after bilateral supplementary motor area lesion
Journal of neurology neurosurgery and psychiatry, 2002Co-Authors: S Della Sala, A Francescani, H SpinnlerAbstract:Objectives: The study aimed at addressing the issue of the precise nature of Gait Apraxia and the cerebral dysfunction responsible for it. Methods: The case of a patient, affected by a bilateral infarction limited to a portion of the anterior cerebral artery territory is reported. The patient's ability to walk was formally assessed by means of a new standardised test. Results: Due to an anomaly within the anterior cerebral artery system, the patient's lesion was centred on the supplementary motor regions of both hemispheres. He presented with clear signs of Gait Apraxia that could not be accounted for by paresis or other neurological deficits. No signs of any other form of Apraxia were detected. Conclusions: The clinical profile of the patient and the analysis of 49 cases from previous literature suggest that Gait Apraxia should be considered a clinical entity in its own right and lesions to the supplementary motor areas are responsible for it.
Cédric Annweiler - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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poor Gait performance and prediction of dementia results from a meta analysis
Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 2016Co-Authors: Cédric Annweiler, Olivier Beauchet, Michele L Callisaya, Annemarie De Cock, Jorunn L Helbostad, Reto W Kressig, Velandai Srikanth, Jeanpaul SteinmetzAbstract:Abstract Background Poor Gait performance predicts risk of developing dementia. No structured critical evaluation has been conducted to study this association yet. The aim of this meta-analysis was to systematically examine the association of poor Gait performance with incidence of dementia. Methods An English and French Medline search was conducted in June 2015, with no limit of date, using the medical subject headings terms “Gait” OR “Gait Disorders, Neurologic” OR “Gait Apraxia” OR “Gait Ataxia” AND “Dementia” OR “Frontotemporal Dementia” OR “Dementia, Multi-Infarct” OR “Dementia, Vascular” OR “Alzheimer Disease” OR “Lewy Body Disease” OR “Frontotemporal Dementia With Motor Neuron Disease” (Supplementary Concept). Poor Gait performance was defined by standardized tests of walking, and dementia was diagnosed according to international consensus criteria. Four etiologies of dementia were identified: any dementia, Alzheimer disease (AD), vascular dementia (VaD), and non-AD (ie, pooling VaD, mixed dementias, and other dementias). Fixed effects meta-analyses were performed on the estimates in order to generate summary values. Results Of the 796 identified abstracts, 12 (1.5%) were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. Poor Gait performance predicted dementia [pooled hazard ratio (HR) combined with relative risk and odds ratio = 1.53 with P Conclusions This meta-analysis provides evidence that poor Gait performance predicts dementia. This association depends on the type of dementia; poor Gait performance is a stronger predictor of non-AD dementias than AD.
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Anti-dementia drugs-related changes in Gait performance while single and dual tasking in patients with Alzheimer disease: a meta-analysis.
Current Alzheimer research, 2015Co-Authors: Olivier Beauchet, Manuel Montero-odasso, Cédric Annweiler, Cyrille P. Launay, Gilles AllaliAbstract:BACKGROUND: The effects of anti-dementia drugs on Gait performance in Alzheimer disease (AD) are questionable. The objective of this meta-analysis was to examine the effects of anti-dementia drugs on the mean value and the coefficient of variation (CoV) of stride time among patients with AD while taking into account the type of drugs (i.e., acetylcholinesterase inhibitors [AChEIs] versus memantine) and the walking conditions (i.e., single versus dual-task). METHODS: An English and French Medline search was conducted in March 2015, with no limit of date, using the Medical Subject Headings terms "pharmaceutical preparations" combined with terms "Pharmaceutical preparations" OR "Therapeutic uses" OR "Drug substitution" OR "Drugs essential" OR "Drugs, Generic" OR "Psychotropic drugs" combined with "Delirium" OR "Dementia" OR "Amnestic" OR "Cognitive disorders" AND "Gait" OR "Gait Ataxia" OR "Gait disorders, Neurologic" OR "Gait Apraxia". Fixed-effects meta-analyses were used to examine anti-dementia drugs-related changes in mean value and CoV of stride time. RESULTS: Of the 66 identified abstracts, 5 (7.6%) were included in the meta-analysis. Inter-group comparison of between-visit change underscored a significant decrease in CoV of stride time (P0.06). Intra-group changes in stride time parameters following the use of anti-dementia drugs showed a significant decrease for memantine (PCONCLUSIONS: Anti-dementia drugs demonstrated a significant improvement of Gait performance with specific class effect depending on the walking conditions and on the type of stride time parameters considered. Language: en
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fear of falling and Gait variability in older adults a systematic review and meta analysis
Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, 2015Co-Authors: Farah Ayoubi, Cédric Annweiler, Cyrille P. Launay, Olivier BeauchetAbstract:Background: Fear of falling (FOF) and increased Gait variability are both independent markers of Gait instability. There is a complex interplay between both entities. The purposes of this study were (1) to perform a qualitative analysis of all published studies on FOF-related changes in Gait variability through a systematic review, and (2) to quantitatively synthesize FOF-related changes in Gait variability. Methods: A systematic Medline literature search was conducted in May 2014 using the Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) terms “Fear” OR “fear of falling” combined with “Accidental Falls” AND “Gait” OR “Gait Apraxia” OR “Gait Ataxia” OR “Gait disorders, Neurologic” OR “Gait assessment” OR “Functional Gait assessment” AND “Self efficacy” OR “Self confidence” AND “Aged” OR “Aged, 80 and over.” Systematic review and fixed-effects meta-analysis using an inverse-variance method were performed. Results: Of the 2184 selected studies, 10 observational studies (including 5 cross-sectional studies, 4 prospective cohort studies, and 1 case-control study) met the selection criteria. All were of good quality. The number of participants ranged from 52 to 1307 older community-dwellers (26.2%e85.0% women). The meta-analysis was performed on 10 studies with a total of 999 cases and 4502 controls. In one study, the higher limits of the effect size’ sc onfidence interval (CI) were lower than zero. In the remaining studies, the higher limits of the CI were positive. The summary random effect size of 0.29 (95% CI 0.13 e0.45) was significant albeit of small magnitude, and indicated that Gait variability was overall 0.29 SD higher in FOF cases compared with controls. Conclusions: Our findings show that FOF is associated with a statistically significant, albeit of small magnitude, increase in Gait variability. 2015 AMDA e The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine.
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Changes in Gait Variability with Anti-dementia Drugs: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
CNS Drugs, 2014Co-Authors: Olivier Beauchet, Gilles Allali, Cyrille P. Launay, Cédric AnnweilerAbstract:Background Studies have examined the effects of anti-dementia drugs on Gait performance. No structured critical evaluation of these studies has been done so far. The objectives of this study were (1) to perform a qualitative analysis of all published studies on changes in stride time variability (STV) with anti-dementia drugs among patients with Alzheimer disease through a systematic review, and (2) to quantitatively synthesize anti-dementia drug-related changes in STV. Methods An English and French MEDLINE search was conducted on November 2013, with no limit of date, using the Medical Subject Headings term “pharmaceutical preparations” combined with “delirium”, “dementia”, “amnestic”, “cognitive disorders” AND “Gait” OR “Gait disorders, neurologic” OR “Gait Apraxia”. Fixed-effects meta-analyses were performed to compare STV before and after the use of anti-dementia drugs, and to compare the final STV among participants in intervention and control groups. Results Of the 110 originally identified abstracts, four studies (i.e., one assessing galantamine, one donepezil, one memantine, and one memantine and acetylcholinesterase inhibitors) were included in the qualitative review, and three studies in the quantitative synthesis. Results were mixed, as two studies showed significant between-visit improvements (i.e., decrease in mean value) in STV, while one study did not, and the last one reported mixed results. In the meta-analysis, there was no difference between intervention and control groups (summary mean difference of final STV = −0.38 % [95 % confidence interval −1.14 to 0.37]) and no before–after difference in the intervention group (summary mean difference of STV = 0.66 [95 % confidence interval −0.17 to 1.49]). Conclusions Our findings showed inconclusive effects of anti-dementia drugs on STV.
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Questioning vitamin D status of elderly fallers and nonfallers: a meta-analysis to address a ‘forgotten step’
Journal of internal medicine, 2014Co-Authors: Cédric Annweiler, Olivier BeauchetAbstract:BACKGROUND: Previous meta-analyses to determine the efficacy of vitamin D supplementation to prevent falls in the elderly have shown mixed results. Inconsistencies might depend on the dose of supplements, suggesting that serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) concentration could influence the risk of falling. Our objective was to systematically review and quantitatively analyse the relationship between serum 25OHD concentration and the occurrence of falls. METHODS: A Medline search was conducted in December 2013, with no date limit, using the Medical Subject Heading terms 'Vitamin D' OR 'Ergocalciferols' OR 'Vitamin D deficiency' combined with 'Accidental Falls' OR 'Gait disorders, neurologic' OR 'Gait Apraxia' OR 'Gait' OR 'Recurrent Falls' OR 'Falling'. Fixed and random-effects meta-analyses were performed to determine (i) the effect size of the difference in 25OHD concentration between fallers and non-fallers and (ii) the risk of falling according to serum 25OHD concentration. RESULTS: Of the 659 retrieved studies, 18 observational studies - including ten cross-sectional and eight cohort studies - met the selection criteria. All were of good quality. The number of participants ranged from 80-2957 (44-100% women); 11.0% to 69.3% were fallers. Serum 25OHD concentrations were 0.33 x SD lower in fallers compared to non-fallers [pooled effect size 0.33; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.18-0.47]. The risk of falls was inversely associated with serum 25OHD concentration [summary odds ratio (OR) 0.97; 95% CI 0.96-0.99]. The association between falls and hypovitaminosis D varied according to the definition used; the summary OR for falls was 1.23 (95% CI 0.94-1.60) for 25OHD CONCLUSIONS: Fallers have lower 25OHD concentrations, notably more often Language: en
Annalena Venneri - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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walking difficulties in patients with alzheimer s disease might originate from Gait Apraxia
Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 2004Co-Authors: S Della Sala, H Spinnler, Annalena VenneriAbstract:Objectives: To investigate whether Gait Apraxia is a possible cause for some of the walking abnormalities shown by patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Methods: 60 patients with Alzheimer’s disease, selected as being free from overt extrapyramidal impairment or other potential causes of walking deficits, were assessed with a new test evaluating aspects of walking and related movements. Norms for this test were collected from a sample of 182 healthy volunteers. Results: 40% of the Alzheimer group performed below the cut off score on this test, and half performed poorly. Performance of the Alzheimer group in the walking skills test correlated highly with scores in a test assessing limb Apraxia and with dementia severity. Conclusions: Gait Apraxia may be the cause of walking disorders found in a subgroup of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Its detection is made easier by the use of a standardised test, but still relies heavily on the exclusion of other causes of walking deficits. It is a recognisable and independent form of Apraxia.
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Walking difficulties in patients with Alzheimer’s disease might originate from Gait Apraxia
Journal of neurology neurosurgery and psychiatry, 2004Co-Authors: S Della Sala, H Spinnler, Annalena VenneriAbstract:Objectives: To investigate whether Gait Apraxia is a possible cause for some of the walking abnormalities shown by patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Methods: 60 patients with Alzheimer’s disease, selected as being free from overt extrapyramidal impairment or other potential causes of walking deficits, were assessed with a new test evaluating aspects of walking and related movements. Norms for this test were collected from a sample of 182 healthy volunteers. Results: 40% of the Alzheimer group performed below the cut off score on this test, and half performed poorly. Performance of the Alzheimer group in the walking skills test correlated highly with scores in a test assessing limb Apraxia and with dementia severity. Conclusions: Gait Apraxia may be the cause of walking disorders found in a subgroup of patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Its detection is made easier by the use of a standardised test, but still relies heavily on the exclusion of other causes of walking deficits. It is a recognisable and independent form of Apraxia.
