New app trains people with Parkinson's to improve gait

A UNSW research team alongside people with Parkinson’s disease have co-designed an app to assist those with the condition to improve their walking and activity duration.

Research was conducted at Neuroscience Research Australia in Sydney and was led by biomedical engineer Dr Matthew A Brodie. The team developed the Walking Tall app following a clinical trial funded by Shake It Up Australia Foundation and the Michael J Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

An estimated 10 million people worldwide live with Parkinson’s disease (PD), including around 150,000 in Australia. Gait dysfunction can negatively impact on quality of life and independence and is said to lead to falls in around 70% of those with PD.

“Those who live with Parkinson’s disease have to think about every single step they take,” Brodie said.

The trial used the app’s gait re-training tool, which allows users to set their own training time and pace before delivering a rhythmic metronomic beat for three different walking speeds that is designed to trigger movement.

“With the metronome beat of the app the aim is to replace the need to think about walking and help with the timing of their steps.

“We’re training them in gait adaptability. Sometimes they also need to visualise a walking style because often people with PD suffer from hypokinesia where their movements are not actually as big as they feel they are,” Brodie said.

Clinical trailing featured 62 people with PD split into two, with half of those using the Walking Tall app to train their gait and the other following an existing Otago Exercise Program (OEP).

After 13 weeks, and after analysis of self-reported feedback from those involved in the trial, it was found that those following the traditional OEP training were exercising for around 60 minutes per week on average, while those using the app trained for 150 minutes.

“The app lowers the barriers for people with PD to train themselves to walk. We say to them that doing as little as six minutes a day, three days a week, will still help.

“And what we have found is that once people become engaged, and they find they are getting the benefits, then they actually want to do more. … For someone with Parkinson’s Disease whose goal might only be to have the ability to walk to their letter box every day, that can really help them.”

Walking Tall Health’s chief science officer, Dr Martin Ostrowski, lives with Parkinson’s disease and has been using the app developed for those with his condition.

“We have seen that using this app for just a few minutes every day to retrain gait can make a big difference.

“I use the app about once a day for 10–15 minutes, walking roughly 1 km around the block, but in as little as six minutes people with Parkinson’s Disease can get a benefit.

“… I think an app like this empowers people living with Parkinson’s to have some control over helping themselves and realising they can still have a long and productive life.”

The app is free to download from the iOS and Android stores.

Image caption: UNSW biomedical engineer Dr Matthew A Brodie developed the Walking Tall app in collaboration with people who are living with Parkinson's Disease. Image credit: Matthew A Brodie.