This study aims to explore how young adults, older adults and people with Parkinson's disease (PwP), perceive their abilty to cross obstacles while walking, and how this perception is related to their actual performance of obstacle crossing and disease-related motor and cognitive impairments. The study will explore this percepeption and the actual performance in different walking environments(floor, synthetic grass turf). Understanding how people perceive obstacles may help improve rehabilitation methods and reduce the risk of falls. The study will take place at the Motor Performance Laboratory, University of Haifa, and will include walking tasks, eye-tracking measurements, and motor and cognitive assessments.
Participants aged 20 to 80 years.
Ability to walk independently outdoors without assistive devices.
For Parkinson's Disease (PD) group: Diagnosis of PD confirmed by medical records.
For healthy control groups: No neurological or orthopedic conditions affecting gait.
Feezing of gait (for PD group only), based on a score greater than 0 on the Freezing of Gait Questionnaire.
Severe visual impairment that cannot be corrected with glasses or lenses.
Cognitive impairment, defined as a score below 18 on the telephone-based Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).
Any orthopedic condition, pain, or other medical condition that may affect walking, based on self-report.
The study population will include three groups: (1) people with Parkinson's disease (PwP), aged 60-80 years, diagnosed by a physician and able to walk independently outdoors; (2) healthy older adults aged 60-80 years without neurological or orthopedic conditions affecting gait; and (3) healthy young adults aged 20-30 years without neurological or orthopedic conditions affecting gait. Participants will be recruited from the community, from clinical settings (for PwP), and through university-based recruitment systems (for young healthy adults).
Case-control
Cross-sectional
Assessment of Gait and Visual Exploration
Other interventionParticipants will perform walking tasks involving obstacle crossing while their gait and visual exploration patterns are recorded using wearable sensors and eye-tracking glasses. This is a non-invasive observational study with no therapeutic intervention.
Affordance Perception Accuracy
Accuracy of participants' perception of their ability to cross obstacles of varying height and surface conditions. Participants will judge whether they can safely cross an obstacle prior to walking.
Affordances measured by gaze behavior
Eye movement patterns during obstacle approach and crossing. Gaze behavior will be recorded using wearable eye-tracking glasses (Tobii Pro Glasses 3) to assess visual exploration of the walking environment and obstacle. Measures will include fixation(on obstacle) duration (milisecondes).
Movement Disorders Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS)
Disease severity will be assessed using the MDS-UPDRS (Motor Examination). This standardized clinical assessment measures motor symptoms in people with Parkinson's disease, including tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia, and postural stability. Higher scores indicate greater motor impairment.
Walking Speed
Walking speed during obstacle crossing tasks, measured using wearable sensors (APDM Mobility Lab). Walking speed will be calculated in meters per second based on time and distance walked during the trials.
Step Length
Step length during obstacle crossing tasks, measured using wearable sensors (APDM Mobility Lab). Step length will be calculated in meters for each leg during walking trials, as an indicator of gait characteristics and stability.
Levodopa Equivalent Daily Dose (LEDD)
The total daily dose of antiparkinsonian medications will be calculated for participants with Parkinson's disease using the standardized Levodopa Equivalent Daily Dose (LEDD) formula. Higher values indicate greater medication use.
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University of Haifa
Lead sponsor
University of Haifa, Israel
Collaborator
