BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Rhythmic auditory cueing and treadmill walking can improve spatiotemporal gait parameters through entrainment of movement patterns. Careful selection of cue frequencies is necessary if treadmill walking is to be employed, because cadence and step length are differentially affected by walking on a treadmill and overground. The purpose of this study was to describe the treatment of gait impairments for individuals with Parkinson disease, using strategically selected rhythmic auditory cue frequencies on both a treadmill and overground. CASE DESCRIPTION Three individuals with Hoehn & Yahr stage 2 Parkinson disease participated in this case series. INTERVENTION All participants completed 6 weeks of gait training, in which each session employed rhythmic auditory cueing during treadmill-based gait training followed by overground gait training. We provided targeted rhythmic auditory cueing with a metronome set to 85% and 115% of their self-selected cadence for treadmill and overground training, respectively. We performed clinical tests of gait and balance prior to, midway, and following training, and at a 3-month follow-up. OUTCOMES All participants improved overground gait speed (participant 1: +0.27 m/s; participant 2: +0.20 m/s; and participant 3: +0.18 m/s) and stride length (15.7 ± 4.17 cm) with small changes to cadence. Likewise, there were only small changes in balance. DISCUSSION We hypothesize that the large improvements in gait speed are due to the concomitant increases in stride length. Further research is needed to test the effect of targeted rhythmic auditory cueing during treadmill and overground gait.Video Abstract available for more insights from the authors (see the Video, Supplemental Digital Content 1, available at: http://links.lww.com/JNPT/A309).

中文翻译：

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帕金森病患者在跑步机和地上步态期间的有针对性的节律性听觉提示

背景和目的有节奏的听觉提示和跑步机行走可以通过运动模式的夹带来改善时空步态参数。如果要使用跑步机行走，则需要仔细选择提示频率，因为踏频和步长受到在跑步机上和地上行走的不同影响。本研究的目的是描述帕金森病患者步态障碍的治疗方法，在跑步机和地面上使用策略性选择的有节奏的听觉提示频率。病例描述 三名 Hoehn & Yahr 2 期帕金森病患者参加了本病例系列。干预 所有参与者都完成了 6 周的步态训练，其中每个会话在基于跑步机的步态训练期间采用有节奏的听觉提示，然后是地面步态训练。我们提供有针对性的有节奏的听觉提示，节拍器分别设置为他们自选节奏的 85% 和 115%，用于跑步机和地面训练。我们在训练前、训练中、训练后以及 3 个月的随访中进行了步态和平衡的临床测试。结果 所有参与者都提高了地面步态速度（参与者 1：+0.27 m/s；参与者 2：+0.20 m/s；参与者 3：+0.18 m/s）和步幅长度（15.7 ± 4.17 cm），步频变化很小. 同样，平衡也只有很小的变化。讨论 我们假设步态速度的大幅提高是由于步幅长度的增加所致。