Split-belt Treadmill Training to Rehabilitate Freezing of Gait and Balance in Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) related gait and balance disorders are challenging to treat because they cannot be optimized with pharmacological intervention alone. This treatment gap is important to address because gait asymmetry and incoordination are associated with increased falls in this population, which can be functionally debilitating and lead to increased morbidity and mortality. Freezing of gait (FOG) has also been associated with reduced quality of life independent of its association with impaired mobility. Gait disorders therefore represent an unmet need in the treatment of PD. A split-belt treadmill (SB-TM) can be used to adjust the speed of each leg separately and individuals can be prompted to 'adapt' to an asymmetric gait and 're-adapt' with return to symmetrical gait in a phenomenon known as 'after-effect'.

NCT Number	NCT04946812
Lead Sponsor	University of Toronto
Conditions	Parkinson Disease, Freezing of Gait, Gait, Unsteady
Enrollment	28 participants
Start Date	2020-03-27
Primary Completion	2024-12 (estimated)
Study Completion	2025-03 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2024-07-17