Influence of emotional and cognitive factors on postural control domains in individuals with Parkinsons Disease

• Grant number: 21/10658-0
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): December 01, 2021
• Effective date (End): November 30, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Biomedical Engineering
• Principal researcher: Daniel Boari Coelho
• Grantee: Adriana Tanigawa Bitiati
• Home Institution: Centro de Engenharia, Modelagem e Ciências Sociais Aplicadas (CECS). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Freezing of Gait (FoG) in Parkinson's disease (PD) is a relatively common symptom that appears mainly at the beginning of gait and has an essential impact on the quality of life of these patients. Despite being a motor behavior, it is observed that cognitive and emotional factors can both trigger them and be used as strategies to minimize them. This study will investigate whether emotional and cognitive factors and the degree of motor impairment influence the domains of postural control. For this, 34 patients with PD and CM, Hoehn & Yahr (H&Y) stage 3 performed cognitive and emotional tests and postural tasks in response to external disturbance, the onset of step, and maintenance of balance in the quiet posture. Data has already been collected, and the following analyzes will be performed. First, Shapiro-Wilk and Levene tests will be used to assess data normality and variance. Second, Spearman's correlation coefficients, controlled for age, disease duration, and medication, will be calculated between clinical scales and postural tasks. Finally, we will perform stepwise multiple linear regression using postural variables as dependent and cognitive/emotional as independent variables. Thus, the finding of this study can be helpful to improve rehabilitation in the three domains: cognitive, emotional, and postural control, as specific rehabilitation of postural control can be beneficial to treat the associated cognitive/emotional disorder and vice versa. (AU)