Auditory Stimulation versus NDT Effects on Gait

Clinical Rehabilitation will be publishing research that compared the gait of two groups of adults with cerebral palsy following auditory stimulation or neurodevelopmental treatment (NDT).   Thirteen individuals received gait training with NDT and 15 individuals received gait training with rhythmic auditory stimulation.  The training sessions with 3 times per week for 3 weeks.     Rhythmic auditory stimulation combined a metronome beat set to the individual's cadence with rhythmic cuing from a live keyboard and traditional neurodevelopmental treatment was provided.

Results indicated the following:

1. Temporal gait measures showed that rhythmic auditory stimulation significantly increased cadence, walking velocity, stride length, and step length.

2. Kinematic data indicated that anterior tilt of the pelvis and hip flexion during a gait cycle was significantly reduced following rhythmic auditory stimulation.

3. Gait deviation index also showed modest improvement in cerebral palsy patients treated with rhythmic auditory stimulation.

4. Neurodevelopmental treatment showed that internal and external rotations of hip joints were significantly improved.

5. Rhythmic auditory stimulation showed aggravated maximal internal rotation in the transverse plane.

The authors concluded that gait training with rhythmic auditory stimulation or NDT produced different effects on gait patterns of adults with cerebral palsy.

Have you ever tried gait training with auditory stimulation in children with cerebral palsy?  Would be curious to hear your experiences.

Reference:   Kim SJ, Kwak EE, Park ES, Cho SR. Differential effects of rhythmic auditory stimulation and neurodevelopmental treatment/Bobath on gait patterns in adults with cerebral palsy: a randomized controlled trial. Clin Rehabil. 2012 Feb 3. [Epub ahead of print]