Associate Professor Sujata Pradhan, PT, PhD, has received a $39,980 grant from the Royalty Research Fund for a one-year study of gait impairments in home and community environments for people with Parkinson's disease (PD). The goal of the study is to examine gait impairments while tracking environmental features and participants' experiences. The team will use state-of-the-art wearable devices to gather this data by comparing parameters collected from instrumented socks, an activity monitor, and augmented reality glasses.
Gait impairments are common in individuals with PD and contribute to loss of independence, falls, and fear of falling. Consequently, people with PD restrict their daily participation in the home and community, which leads to further inactivity and reduced quality of life.
Many physical therapy treatments do improve how people walk. However, clinical assessments often fail to show how people move in the real world. Walking in a clinic is very different from navigating the complex environments people face every day. To bridge this gap, the study will help understand how walking patterns change when a person moves from a controlled setting to their home or community.
Participants will wear these devices while completing mobility tasks in both the laboratory and their own communities. Associate Professor Valerie Kelly, PT, PhD, is a co-investigator on this grant.