The Effects of Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation with Different Tempos on Spatio-Temporal Parameters and Gait Symmetry in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Introduction: Rhythmic auditory stimulation has been used clinically as a therapeutic intervention to improve gait function in patients with various neurological diseases. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of rhythmic auditory stimulation with different tempos on spatio-temporal parameters and gait symmetry in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).Materials and Methods: The present study participants included ۱۳ women diagnosed with MS (EDSS: ۳.۵-۵.۵) and ۱۴ healthy women. Walking of the subjects was examined under ۴ different modes: baseline gait without rhythmic auditory stimulation and gait with rhythmic auditory stimulation at -۱۰%, ۰%, and +۱۰% of the baseline tempo, applied in random order. A motion capture system with ۶ cameras was used to collect kinematic data.Results: The results of independent sample t-test showed that people with MS walked slower, shorter distance, and spent a greater percentage of a gait cycle in double support phase than healthy control subjects. Furthermore, the findings showed that with an increase in tempo, the parameters of stance duration, swing duration, double support duration, stride duration, and stride length decrease, and cadence increases. The results of repeated measures ANOVA showed that auditory rhythmic stimulation significantly improves the gait symmetry index compared to the condition of the gait without auditory rhythmic stimulation.Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that the subjects who participated in this study adjusted well to the changing tempo, and gait improvement was also found at different tempos. Therefore, our findings suggest that rhythmic auditory stimulation has the potential to be a safe, effective, and low-cost intervention for gait disturbance in patients with MS.

Keywords:

Multiple Sclerosis , Rhythmic auditory stimulation , Gait , Symmetry