The impact of time of day on the gait and balance control of Alzheimer’s patients

ABSTRACT

Alzheimer’s patients suffer from circadian dysregulation. The aim of this study was to examine the evolution of balance control and gait at different times of the day (11:00, 14:00, 18:00) in order to identify whether Alzheimer’s patients were more likely to fall at certain periods of the day. Spatio-temporal parameters of centre of foot pressure displacements were measured with a force platform and spatio-temporal parameters of walking were evaluated with a gait analysis device. The results highlighted that balance control was worse in the evening and the afternoon than in the morning. Furthermore, the walking speed was faster and support duration, swing duration and cycle duration were shorter in the evening than in the morning and afternoon. The combined analysis of balance control and gait parameters revealed that balance control and walking are concomitantly altered in the evening which increases the fall risk in the evening, in comparison with the morning, for Alzheimer’s patients.

KEYWORDS:

• Alzheimer’s disease
• chronobiology
• fall risk
• gait
• postural control
• sundown syndrome

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This investigation was supported by grants from the Association Nationale de la Recherche et de la Technologie and the Conseil Général des Hautes Pyrénées.