Music, movement and mood in Parkinson’s: A transdisciplinary study to develop a new protocol to measure functional mobility in people with Parkinson’s by integrating motion capture with a pressure sensitive gait mat

• Published in: Current Issues in Sport Science 2023-02, Vol.8 (2), p.66
• Main Authors: Köchli, Sabrina, Ungerer, Marietta, Rose, Dawn
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: functional mobility; motion capture; music; Parkinson’s disease; patient and public involvement
• ISSN: 2414-6641; 2414-6641
• DOI: 10.36950/2023.2ciss066

Background Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative brain disorder associated with early-onset functional motor impairments (Rana et al., 2012). There are several assessment scales for the evaluation of PD, but many motor measurement protocols lack reference to the qualitative assessment of functional mobility in everyday life (Opara et al., 2017). Moreover, previous studies have shown that pharmaceutical treatments in combination with physical therapy play an important role in improving motor symptoms, but the benefits do not seem to extend to mental well-being (Fox et al., 2018). Growing evidence suggest that an interdisciplinary approach by integrating musical activity with exercises may have the potential to improve both functional mobility and psychological wellbeing (Barnish & Barran, 2020). Methods The first phase of this mixed methods study includes a Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) consultation process (workshops and interviews; Rose et al., 2022) to develop a context-appropriate new group-based intervention program for and with PwP and health professionals. The focus will lie on music activity and the use music imagery to develop individual jukeboxes of musical cues to combat motor symptoms such as rigidity and freeze of gait. To evaluate the efficacy and the generalisability of the program, a 12-week within-subject repeated measures controlled trial will be conducted in Switzerland and the UK. An accurate and reliable quantitative measurement protocol will be developed to enable assessment of disease progression, and evaluation of interventions alongside qualitative observations of mobility in PwP. Moreover, we aim to provide fine-grained assessment of clinical measures (such as the Timed Up and Go) using an integrated motion capture (MoCap) and gait mat analysis system. Expected Outcomes and Perspectives This project lays the foundation for the development of non-pharmaceutical and low-cost intervention programs. Our PPI approach will provide better individualised and targeted prevention strategies to counteract the increasing financial and personal burden of PD worldwide. A unique aspect of the study is to develop a new quantitative functional mobility measurement protocol to assess PwP over time. This research approach will contribute to our understanding of functional mobility symptoms and the use of music in PD to reduce symptom severity and improve quality of life. References Barnish, M. S., & Barran, S. M. (2020). A systematic