Table 1.
Characteristics of included studies.
| References | Participants age (SD) | Perturbation training | Control intervention | Retention | Gait outcome | Balance outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cakit et al. (2007) |
N = 31 PwPD 71,8 (6,4) HY: 2–3 UPDRSII: 18.14 (9.32) |
16 sessions, 30 min for 8 wks speed dependent treadmill training with unexpected speed increments or decrements (0.6 km/h) | Control group mentioned but content not specified | None | Max gait speed on treadmill | Berg Balance Scale |
| Gimmon et al. (2018) |
N = 53 HOA IG: 78.2 (5.6) CG: 81.4 (4.3) |
24 sessions, 20 min for 3 mo of treadmill at comfortable speed with unexpected perturbations of platform in random directions | 24 sessions, 20 min for 3 mo of treadmill walking at comfortable speed | None | Stride length on treadmill (1.9 mph speed) | Postural sway (EC) |
| Klamroth et al. (2016) |
N = 39 PwPD IG: 64.8 (10.3) HY: 2.4 (0.6) UPDRSIII: 16.7 (5.5) CG: 64.2 (8.5) HY: 2.2 (0.9) UPDRSIII: 17.7 (8.7) |
1 session, 20 min of treadmill walking with small 3D tilting movements of the walking surface | 1 session, 20 min of regular treadmill walking at comfortable speed | 10 min | Comfortable overground gait speed, CoV and asymm of stride length | Postural sway (EO) |
| Rieger et al. (2020) |
N = 30 HOA 72.6 (5.4) |
1 session, 16 perturbations of treadmill walking with sudden acceleration or decelerations | 1 session, 8 min of conventional treadmill walking | 1 week | Step length on treadmill | None |
| Shen and Mak (2015) |
N = 45 PwPD IG: 63.3 (8.0) HY: 2.43 (0.47) UPDRSIII: 24.0 (8.3) CG: 65.3 (8.5) HY: 2.48 (0.49) UPDRSIII: 23.2 (6.5) |
44 sessions, 20–60 min, 12 wks total, 2 × 4wks 60 min of lab technology-assisted gait and balance training with volitional stepping, leaning, unexpected treadmill deceleration or manual perturbations and 1wk 20min self-supervised training. | 44 sessions, 20–60 min of strength training of the lower extremity with dynamometers/leg press machines, rowing, cuff weight | 3 mo (6 mo/12 mo)* | Comfortable overground gait speed | None |
| Steib et al. (2017) |
N = 38 PwPD IG: 67.6 (8.2) HY: 2.43 (0.47) UDRSIII: 24.0 (8.3) CG: 62.5 (7.9) HY: 2.48 (0.49) UPDRSIII: 23.2 (6.5) |
16 sessions, 30min for 8 wks of treadmill walking with 3D movements of tilting platform | 16 sessions, 30 min for 8 wks of conventional treadmill walking | 3 months | Comfortable and fast overground gait speed | Mini-BESTest, Postural sway (EO and EC) |
| Paradigms without RCT design or control group | ||||||
| Harro et al. (2014a,b)** |
N = 20 PwPD IG: 67.3 (11.47) HY: 1.9 (0.57) UPDRSIII: / CG: 64 (9.58) HY: 2.0 (0.67) UPDRSIII: / |
18 sessions, 30 min for 6 wks of rhythmic auditory cued over-ground walking, walking to the beat of music with incremental BPM to increase gait speed | 18 sessions, 30 min for 6 wks of speed dependent treadmill training, unexpected increase of speed every +/- 2.5-5 min and decreases to comfortable speed | 3 months | Comfortable and fast overground gait speed | Berg Balance Scale |
| Martelli et al. (2017) |
N = 18, 9 PwPD + 9 HOA PwPD: 64,3 (7,4) HY: 1.78 (0.44) UPDRSIII: 14.44 (6.44) HOA: 64,7 (7,3) |
1 session, 30 min, 9 blocks of 8 AP or ML pull or push perturbations by external cables during walking on a treadmill | None | None | Step length of walking on treadmill | None |
RCT, Randomized Controlled Trial; CC, Case Control Study; IG, Intervention Group; CG, Control Group; PwPD, People with Parkinson's Disease; HOA, Healthy Older Adults; HY, Hoehn and Yahr stage; UPDRSIII, Movement Disorder Society Unified Disease Rating Scale part III; Mo, months; Wks, weeks; CoM, Center of Mass; EO, Eyes Open; EC, Eyes Closed; BPM, Beats Per Minute; AP, Anterior-Posterior; ML, Medio-Lateral; CoV, Coefficient of Variance; Asymm, asymmetry.
*
These timepoints were also collected but not used in this meta-analysis,
**
only control group was suitable for inclusion in qualitative analysis.