Sit-to-walk performance in Parkinson's disease: A comparison between faller and non-faller patients.
BACKGROUND
Falls are one of the main concerns in people with Parkinson's disease, leading to poor quality of life and increased mortality. The sit-to-walk movement is the most frequent postural transition task during daily life and is highly demanding in terms of balance maintenance and muscular strength.


METHODS
With the aim of identifying biomechanical variables of high risk of falling, we investigated the sit-to-walk task performed by 9 Parkinson's disease patients with at least one fall episode in the six months preceding this study, 15 Parkinson's disease patients without previous falls, and 20 healthy controls. Motor performance was evaluated with an optoelectronic system and two dynamometric force plates after overnight suspension of all dopaminergic drugs and one hour after consumption of a standard dose of levodopa/benserazide.


FINDINGS
Poor trunk movements critically influenced the execution of the sit-to-walk movement in patients with a history of falling. The peak velocity of the trunk in the anterior-posterior direction discriminated faller from non-faller patients, with high specificity and sensitivity in both the medication-off and -on state.


INTERPRETATION
Our results confirm the difficulties in merging consecutive motor tasks in patients with Parkinson's disease. Trunk movements during the sit-to-walk can provide valuable measurements to monitor and possibly predict the risk of falling.
['Palmisano|Chiara|C|', 'Brandt|Gregor|G|', 'Pozzi|Nicoló Gabriele|NG|', 'Leporini|Alice|A|', 'Maltese|Virginia|V|', 'Canessa|Andrea|A|', 'Volkmann|Jens|J|', 'Pezzoli|Gianni|G|', 'Frigo|Carlo Albino|CA|', 'Isaias|Ioannis Ugo|IU|']
D000058:Accidental Falls D000368:Aged D000369:Aged, 80 and over D001545:Benserazide D016022:Case-Control Studies D004338:Drug Combinations D005260:Female D006801:Humans D007980:Levodopa D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D009068:Movement D010300:Parkinson Disease D004856:Postural Balance D011788:Quality of Life D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity D000077708:Sitting Position D016138:Walking
Sit-to-walk Parkinson's disease Falls Trunk movement Timed up and go