Application of Virtual Reality in Rehabilitation for Freezing of Gait in Parkinson's Disease (review) / 中国康复理论与实践

@#Virtual reality is an integrated technology which simulates the real world via the computer, with characteristics of immersion, interaction and imagination. It is widely used in neurological rehabilitation. Freezing of gait (FOG) is a destructive symptom which appears in late stage of Parkinson's disease, which can be divided into subtypes of moving forward with very small steps, leg trembling in place and total akinesia, and often results in fall and injury of the patients. Virtual reality can simulate the environment of FOG to provide a new idea for the assessment. Virtual reality combined with treadmill training can provide challenging functional training in a complex environment to improve the gait. How it works is remained unclear.

Clinical features of Parkinson disease with constipation / 中华老年医学杂志

Objective To investigate the clinical features of Parkinson disease (PD)with constipation.Methods From October 2013 to August 2015,a total of 204 PD patients were consecutively recruited from the Departments of Geriatrics and Neurology,Beijing Tiantan Hospital,Capital Medical University,and were evaluated by Rome Ⅲ diagnostic criteria for functional constipation and other related scales of motor symptoms(MS)and non-motor symptoms(NMS),the activity of daily living(ADL)and quality of life.Results Overall,131 of 204(64.2％)PD patients with constipation were assigned to the PD-C group and 73 of 204 (35.8％)PD patients without constipation were assigned to the PD-NC group.In the PD-C group,38 of 131(29％)PD patients had constipation before motor symptoms occurred.The mean age and age of onset in the PD-C group were significantly older than those in the PD-NC group (64.13 ± 9.67 vs.58.35 ± 11.37;60.07 ± 10.46 vs.55.10±12.97;F=2.287,4.948;t=3.827,-2.788;P＜0.01 for both).Meanwhile,compared with the PD-NC group,the PD-C group was associated with dramatically longer disease duration (2.25,range:1.00-5.00 vs.2.00,range:1.00-3.13;Z =-2.254;P ＜ 0.05),increased scores of the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) Ⅲ (26.00 scores,range:18.00 37.50 vs.19.00,range:12.50-31.00;Z =-2.349,P ＜ 0.05),more advanced stages on the Hoehn-Yahr (H-Y) scale (2.00 stage,range:1.50-2.50 vs.1.50,range:1.00-2.50;Z=-2.334,P＜0.05),higher total numbers of NMS(11.00,range:6.00-15.00 vs.6.00,range:3.00-11.00;Z=-3.715,P＜0.05),and higher numbers of NMS occurring before and after MS(before,2.00,range:0.00-4.00 vs.1.00,range:0.00-2.00;after,8.00,range:3.00-14.00 vs.5.00,range:2.00-9.50;Z =-2.612,-2.630,respectively;P＜0.05 for both).Additionally,there were significant differences between the groups in the scores of the Hamilton depression scale (HAMD),the Hamilton anxiety scale (HAMA),the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI),the scales for outcomes in Parkinson disease-autonomic (SCOPA-AUT),the Fatigue severity scale (FSS),the Apathy scale,the Montreal Cognitive Assessment(MoCA)scale,the UPDRS Ⅱ and ADL Scale,and the PDQL-39 (all P＜0.05).Binary Logistic regression analysis showed that age,SCOPA-AUT,HAMA and HAMD were risk factors for PD-C(OR=1.091,1.107,1.10 and 1.080;P＜0.05 for all).Conclusions PD patients have a high incidence of constipation,and more than a quarter of patients have constipation before MS occurs.Meanwhile,PD patients with constipation are usually associated with old age and late age of onset,long disease duration,severe MS,frequent and severe NMS,bad cognition,emotional state and sleep,severe fatigue,and apathy.Moreover,advanced age,autonomic dysfunction,anxiety and depression increase the risk of PD with constipation.Constipation has a serious negative impact on the activity of daily living and quality of life in PD patients.