Freezing Gait in Parkinson's Disease

• Published in: European neurology Vol. 38; no. 4; pp. 297 - 301
• Main Authors: Lamberti, Paolo, Armenise, Silvia, Castaldo, Vincenzo, de Mari, Michele, Iliceto, Giovanni, Tronci, Paola, Serlenga, Luigi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel, Switzerland Karger 01.01.1997; S. Karger AG
• Subjects: Adult; Age of Onset; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Female; Gait; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Neurology; Original Paper; Parkinson Disease - complications; Parkinson's disease; Psychomotor Performance; Surveys and Questionnaires; Akinesia; Freezing gait; Parkinson's disease; Human; Nervous system diseases; Motor system disorder; Blocking; Parkinson disease; Epidemiology; Cerebral disorder; Characteristics; Central nervous system disease; Starting; Body movement; Adult; Frequency; Degenerative disease; Neurological disorder; Extrapyramidal syndrome
• ISSN: 0014-3022; 1421-9913
• DOI: 10.1159/000113398

Freezing is a well-known problem in Parkinson''s disease (PD) and is characterized by an abrupt difficulty in starting or continuing rhythmic and repetitive movements. We utilized a questionnaire in order to assess the occurrence of the freezing gait phenomenon (FG) in a population of 100 consecutive PD patients. Our PD population included 70 males and 30 females, with a mean age of 61.1 ± 9.1 years. Mean duration of PD was 6.5 ± 4.0 years. 92/100 patients were under L-Dopa treatment. The FG phenomenon occurred in 60% of patients. It appeared on average 4.8 years after the beginning of PD; in 16% of the cases it was evident before starting L-Dopa treatment. FG was more frequent among female patients. There was no significant correlation between the occurrence of FG and the age of the patients; on the other hand, a significant correlation was found with the duration of the disease (p < 0.001). FG occurred more frequently in the subgroup of patients with the akinetic form (odds ratio: 3.05); whilst an opposite tendency was evident in the subgroup with the tremor predominant form (odds ratio: 0.29).