Music and rhythmic stimuli in the rehabilitation of gait disorders

Author(s): gait, gait-disorder, proprioception, spasticity, arthritis-scoliosis.

Journal/Book: Journal of Music Therapy. 1983; 20: Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. National Association for Music Therapy. 69-87.

Abstract: This exploratory study investigated the application of rhythmic auditory stimuli as a superimposed structure in facilitating proprioceptive control of rhythmic gait. Twenty-five subjects of varying ages and gait disorders listened to individually determined music and rhythmic percussive sounds and attempted to match their footsteps to the stimuli. As rhythmic control increased, stimulus conditions were gradually faded for internali- zation and independence of the motor pattern. Results indicated that all subjects evidenced gains in rhythmic, even walking, and/or consistency in walking speed. Dependent measures included cumulative timed variations between footfalls in hundreths of a second and cadence inconsistencies counted in consecutive ten-second intervals. Improvement was also determined by college observers who watched and rated randomly arranged videotape segments of baseline and treatment conditions. Overall, and on specific components of gait, observers differentiated significantly between baseline and treatment conditions.

Keyword(s): music, rhythmic-stimuli, rehabilitation, movement, movement-disorder, stroke.

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