The relationship between gait parameters and cognitive status in dementia

Introduction and Objective: Dementia is a clinical syndrome characterized bychronic and progressive detorieration of mental functions. Gait disorder accompanies theclinical picture. The aim of this study is to examine the changes of the gait parameters, and toevaluate the effects of the mental functions on these gait parameters.Material and Method: Twenty-seven patients with dementia referred to Departmentof Neurology in Çukurova University School of Medicine and diagnosed by clinical,laboratory and electrophysiological findings and 11 healthy controls were enrolled into thestudy. Six meter self selected walk, timed up&go test, posture-locomotion-manual test,multitask tests, TND Gait and Balance Assessment Form, Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB),clock drawing and Mini Mental Status Examination (MMSE) were applied to the cases. Thecorrelation between the gait parameters and mental test scores was investigated in thedementia and normal control groups. The statistical analysis were performed in Departmentof Biostatistics, using the SPSS-18 software program.Findings: Six-meters self selected walking time and cycle of steps were increased inpatients with dementia when compared to those of controls while step length was shorter inthe former group. Step count by self-selected walk for 10 seconds decreased in cases withdementia. Time-based data obtained by up&go test and posture-locomotion-manual test werealso increased and, comparable to those in normals. The distance between internal malleoliwas increased in dementia. Turns were slower and balance (postural stability) during turnswas deteriorated in dementia patients Deterioration in gait parameters were evident whenmental and/or motor tasks were performed during 6 meter self-selected walk.Conclusion: Gait disorders observed in cases with dementia may help to predict thecognitive deterioration even in early period of the disease. This deterioration becomes moreevident when the tasks operated with pre-frontal and attentive functions were applied. Thedata indicate that locomotor system and cognitive functions are strongly related to each other.Key Words: Dementia, Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB), Gait, Mini Mental StatusExamination (MMSE), Posture-Locomotion-Manual test (PLM), Timed Up&Go test,