The effects of treadmill or overground walking training program on gait in Parkinson's disease

BACKGROUND

Gait impairment in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients is characterized by the inability to generate appropriate stride length. Treadmill training has been proposed as a therapeutic tool for PD patients. However, it remains unknown whether treadmill training effects are different from overground walking training. Thus, our goal was to explore the effects of two training programs, walking on a treadmill and walking overground, in PD patients.

METHODS

22 PD patients were randomly assigned to a treadmill or overground training group. The training program consisted of 5 weeks (3 sessions/week). Before and after the program we evaluated gait kinematics during walking at preferred and maximal speed; Timed Up and Go (TUG); static posturography and knee extensors strength. Gait parameters were reevaluated in the treadmill training group one month after the cessation of the training.

RESULTS

Preferred speed walking improved in both groups after the training program. The treadmill training program, but not the overground, led to an improvement in the stride length at the preferred and maximal walking speed in the PD patients. In addition, the treadmill training group showed improvement of the TUG and static posturography tests. The improvement in gait parameters was maintained one month after the cessation of the treadmill training.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provides evidence of a specific therapeutic effect of treadmill training on Parkinsonian gait and balance. Walking on a treadmill may be used as an easy, effective and accessible way to improve the stride length and balance in PD patients.

Training health professionals in bioinformatics. Experiences and lessons learned

BACKGROUND

Genomic technologies and particularly bioinformatics have significantly changed biomedical research along the last decade and are being recognized as potential methods for application also in medical practice and public health. There exists a growing need for different collectives of the healthcare sector to receive training in the methods, tools and databases related with these new areas.

OBJECTIVES

This paper describes the teaching experience of our department during the last ten years and analyzes past activities designed for teaching bioinformatics to different groups of health professionals. We aim to illustrate the main lessons learned and offer useful clues to other groups interested in setting up training initiatives in bioinformatics for health professionals.

METHODS

The group selected several methodologies for the training activities ("face-to-face", online/e-learning) on the basis of three criteria: 1) the target collective, 2) the contents of the course, and 3) its length. Courses were evaluated and the results are hereby presented and discussed.

RESULTS

National and international training courses on bioinformatics, biomedical informatics and genomics were developed according to specific requirements defined by the profile of each of the targeted health professional group. These activities provided the students with the necessary skills for better understanding the use of bioinformatics tools and databases and the appropriate way of applying them into specific health domains.

CONCLUSIONS

The increasing demand of training courses in new technologies related to genomics and bioinformatics by health professionals provides a good opportunity for the development of tailored courses based on their specific needs, expectations and demands geared to bridge the gap between research and practice and facilitating their everyday work.