Search

To verify the psychometric properties of the Brazilian-Portuguese version of the Falls Behavioral (FaB-Brazil) Scale in Parkinson's disease (PD). Participants (n = 96) were assessed by disease-specific, self-report and functional mobility measures. Internal consistency of the FaB-Brazil scale was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha and inter-rater and test–retest reliability using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). The standard error of measurement (SEM), minimal detectable change (MDC), ceiling and floor effects, and convergent and discriminative validity were evaluated. Internal consistency was moderate (α = 0.77). Excellent inter-rater (ICC = 0.90; p < 0.001) and test–retest (ICC = 0.91; p < 0.001) reliability were found. The SEM was 0.20 and MDC was 0.38. Ceiling and floor effects were not found. Convergent validity was established by the positive correlations between the FaB-Brazil scale and age, modified Hoehn and Yahr, PD duration, Movement Disorders Society-Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, Motor Aspects of Experiences of Daily Living, Timed Up & Go and 8-item Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire, and negative correlations between the FaB-Brazil scale and community mobility, Schwab & England, and Activities-specific Balance Confidence scale. Females showed greater protective behaviors than males; recurrent fallers showed greater protective behaviors than non-recurrent fallers (p < 0.05). The FaB-Brazil scale is reliable and valid for assessing people with PD. Fall-related behaviors should be part of the fall risk assessment of community-dwelling people with Parkinson's disease. The Brazilian-Portuguese version of the Fall Behavioral (FaB-Brazil) Scale is reliable and valid for assessing everyday behaviors and actions related to falling in community-dwelling people with Parkinson's disease. The FaB-Brazil scale may be used to tailor individualized fall prevention programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To develop and cross-culturally adapt a Brazilian-Portuguese version of the Falls Behavioral Scale (FaB-Brazil) and to verify its psychometric properties. The translation and cross-cultural adaptation process of the scale followed standard guidelines. The FaB-Brazil scale was applied to 93 community-dwelling older people. Cronbach's alpha was calculated to evaluate internal consistency and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) to evaluate interrater and test–retest reliability. The standard error of measurement (SEM), minimal detectable change (MDC), ceiling and floor effects, convergent and discriminative validity were evaluated. A significance level of.05 was set for statistical analyses. Internal consistency was moderate (α = 0.73). An excellent inter-rater (ICC = 0.93; p < 0.001) and a good test–retest (ICC = 0.79; p < 0.001) reliability were found. The SEM was 0.27 and MDC was 0.53. Neither ceiling nor floor effects were found. Convergent validity was established by the positive correlations between the FaB-Brazil scale, age, and functional mobility, and by the negative correlations between the FaB-Brazil scale and balance confidence, community mobility and EuroQol-5D (p < 0.05). No significant differences were found between males and females and between non-fallers and fallers. Our results offer evidence for the reliability and validity of the FaB-Brazil scale for community-dwelling older people. Fall-related behaviors should be part of the fall risk assessment of community-dwelling older people. The Brazilian-Portuguese version of the Falls Behavioral Scale (FaB-Brazil) is reliable and valid for assessing fall-related behaviors in community-dwelling older people. The FaB-Brazil scale may be used to raise awareness about potential fall hazards and to guide fall prevention programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To summarize the effects of rehabilitation interventions to reduce freezing of gait (FOG) in people with Parkinson's disease. A systematic review with meta-analyses of randomized trials of rehabilitation interventions that reported a FOG outcome was conducted. Quality of included studies and certainty of FOG outcome were assessed using the PEDro scale and GRADE framework. Sixty-five studies were eligible, with 62 trialing physical therapy/exercise, and five trialing cognitive and/or behavioral therapies. All meta-analyses produced very low-certainty evidence. Physical therapy/exercise had a small effect on reducing FOG post-intervention compared to control (Hedges' g= −0.26, 95% CI= −0.38 to −0.14, 95% prediction interval (PI)= −0.38 to −0.14). We are uncertain of the effects on FOG post-intervention when comparing: exercise with cueing to without cueing (Hedges' g= −0.58, 95% CI= −0.86 to −0.29, 95% PI= −1.23 to 0.08); action observation training plus movement strategy practice to practice alone (Hedges' g= −0.56, 95% CI= −1.16 to 0.05); and dance to multimodal exercises (Hedges' g= −0.64, 95% CI= −1.53 to 0.25). We are uncertain if physical therapy/exercise, cognitive or behavioral therapies, are effective at reducing FOG. FOG leads to impaired mobility and falls, but the effect of rehabilitation interventions (including physical therapy/exercise and cognitive/behavioral therapies) on FOG is small and uncertain. Until more robust evidence is generated, clinicians should assess FOG using both self-report and physical measures, as well as other related impairments such as cognition, anxiety, and fear of falling. Interventions for FOG should be personalized based on the individual's triggers and form part of a broader exercise program addressing gait, balance, and falls prevention. Interventions should continue over the long term and be closely monitored and adjusted as individual circumstances change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective The purpose of this study was to determine interrater and test–retest reliability of the Ziegler test to measure freezing of gait (FOG) severity in people with Parkinson disease. Secondary aims were to evaluate test validity and explore Ziegler test duration as a proxy FOG severity measure. Methods Physical therapists watched 36 videos of people with Parkinson disease and FOG perform the Ziegler test and rated FOG severity using the rating scale in real time. Two researchers rated 12 additional videos and repeated the ratings at least 1 week later. Interrater and test–retest reliability were calculated using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). Bland–Altman plots were used to visualize agreement between the researchers for test–retest reliability. Correlations between the Ziegler scores, Ziegler test duration, and percentage of time frozen (based on video annotations) were determined using Pearson r. Results Twenty-four physical therapists participated. Overall, the Ziegler test showed good interrater (ICC2,1 = 0.80; 95% CI = 0.65–0.92) and excellent test–retest (ICC3,1 = 0.91; 95% CI = 0.82–0.96) reliability when used to measure FOG. It was also a valid measure, with a high correlation (r  = 0.72) between the scores and percentage of time frozen. Ziegler test duration was moderately correlated (r  = 0.67) with percentage of time frozen and may be considered a proxy FOG severity measure. Conclusion The Ziegler test is a reliable and valid tool to measure FOG when used by physical therapists in real time. Ziegler test duration may be used as a proxy for measuring FOG severity. Impact Despite FOG being a significant contributor to falls and poor mobility in people with Parkinson disease, current tools to assess FOG are either not suitably responsive or too resource intensive for use in clinical settings. The Ziegler test is a reliable and valid measure of FOG, suitable for clinical use, and may be used by physical therapists regardless of their level of clinical experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore how perceptions of fall risk influence decisions to undertake activities in people with Parkinson's disease who have fallen, along with their care-partners. This qualitative study used semi-structured interviews to collect data from eight people with moderate to severe Parkinson's Disease and freezing of gait (including those with cognitive impairments) and their care-partners. An inductive approach to thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Four main, interconnected themes emerged, and a framework was developed to illustrate these connections. Weighing up the risks and benefits reflected the constant tension between assessing the likelihood of falling and potential benefit of any activity; Being fearful heightened the perceived risk resulting in a tendency to avoid or modify activities; Desire to lead a normal life heightened the perceived benefit of any activity, leading towards risk taking behaviour; It's a part of Parkinson's provided the context in which the decision-making process took place, with the reality of a progressive disorder influencing choices and contributing to a belief that falls were inevitable. There is a complex interaction between perceptions of fall risk and behaviour. An understanding of these interactions will assist therapists to tailor individualised fall prevention interventions. People are constantly weighing up the risks and benefits of activities while balancing fear of falling and a desire to lead a normal life in the context of Parkinson's disease. The resulting activity choices vary along a continuum from avoiding activities to taking risks, with a common approach to minimise the risk and then embrace the activity. Therapists can help people with Parkinson's and their care-partners to determine what level of risk is acceptable for them when balancing risk with quality of life. Understanding how people decide if they will undertake an activity that poses a risk of falling will allow therapists and patients to co-design fall prevention and management interventions based on the patient's values and priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compared self-report logbooks of exercise performance to objective measures of performance to determine the accuracy of and patterns of misreporting in self-report logbooks in people with Parkinson's disease. Fifteen participants from the intervention arm of a randomized control trial were prescribed a minimally supervised, 12-week, home-based upper limb exergame program (ACTRN 12614001048673). The exergame system provided an objective electronic measure of adherence for comparison with self-report logbooks. Logbooks showed excellent to good accuracy of overall reported adherence to prescribed sessions (Intraclass correlation (ICC) = 0.83) and games (ICC 0.71). Logbooks were also a good to fair representation of weekly adherence across participants for both sessions (ICC 0.66) and games (ICC 0.56). Individual participant ICCs ranged from minimal to perfect agreement between logbooks and electronic records (ICC sessions range: −0.02 to 1; games range: −0.24 to 0.99). The pattern of logbook reporting suggested some participants were biasing entries to match prescribed exercise. Self-report logbooks may provide an accurate measure of overall adherence. However, the accuracy of individual logbooks was highly variable indicating caution is needed in using self-report measures to assess individual adherence in intervention studies and for clinical decision making. Clinical Trial Registration: Registered in Australia and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (): Registration number: ACTRN12614001048673. Adherence to prescribed unsupervised exercise is usually self-reported. Self-reported logbooks gave a good to excellent indication of exercise adherence overall when compared to electronically captured records for a group of participants with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease. There were high levels of variability in the accuracy of individual logbooks with a tendency to record prescribed rather than actual exercise. Logbooks may be accurate to monitor group adherence, but caution is required when using them to assess an individual's adherence to an exercise prescription. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It was hypothesized that a specialized gait recognition skill enables humans to distinguish the gait of familiar from unfamiliar individuals, and that this may have relevance in team sports. Runners seen for less than half a second can be classified as teammates or not by adult players, so it may be asked whether this skill would also be demonstrated by young team players. In the current study, junior football players (M age = 10.0 yr., SD = 0.8, N = 13) viewed 400-msec. video clips of runners sprinting past a fixed forward facing digital video camera and similarly showed teammate recognition scores significantly above chance. Given the variation among the junior players in this skill, it seems possible for researchers to assess whether improvement can be obtained with structured training for young team players, where running teammates are seen in peripheral vision during training drills.

Ability to recognize a runner as a teammate from only a brief visual exposure is suggested from research on gait recognition with point-light displays and has particular importance for ball-passing in sports. 15 touch football players of mean age 20 yr. (SD=0.7), on two teams of 7 wk. standing, observed 31 400-msec. video clips of running individuals whose familiarity varied from high to low. These were their teammates, players from the other team, or nonfootball players. After viewing each clip, participants rated their certainty that each running player was a teammate. Despite the brevity of the visual display, overall performance at discriminating teammates from other runners was significantly better than chance, and accuracy did not differ between colour or black-and-white formats. Recognition of teammates was better if familiar nonteammates were removed from the set of analyzed clips and worse if unfamiliar nonplayers were removed.