SWEDD (Scans without evidence of dopaminergic deficit) refers to patients with a normal dopamine transporter scan among patients clinically diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Differentiating between PD and SWEDD is very difficult because of si...
SWEDD (Scans without evidence of dopaminergic deficit) refers to patients with a normal dopamine transporter scan among patients clinically diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Differentiating between PD and SWEDD is very difficult because of similar clinical symptoms. It is important to distinguish between SWEDD and PD in order to reduce costly DAT scan or inadequate medication treatment. We investigated the differences of static postural balance and walking patterns between PD and SWEDD patients. 11 PD patients, 11 SWEDD patients and 11 healthy elderly people participated in the static postural balance test. All participants were instructed to stand on the force plate in a natural posture. Mean distance, mean velocity, mean frequency and peak frequency were derived from COP data. 8 PD patients, 12 SWEDD patients and 14 healthy elderly people participated in the gait test. All participants were instructed to walk along the GAITRite’s walkway at preferred speed. The spatial-temporal and pressure variables were selected through the GAITRite software. ANOVA was used to investigate the statistical differences among each group. In the static balance test, PD patients had a greater mean distance compared to SWEDD patients (P<.05). In addition, the mean frequency of PD patients was significantly lower than that of SWEDD patients (P<.05) in the lateral direction. In the gait test, PD patients had a shorter step length compared to SWEDD patients.(P<.001) The step time difference for PD patients was significantly more irregular than that for SWEDD patients.(P<.01) Also, PD patients had a lower time pressure of the toe compared to SWEDD patients. The findings suggest that help early identify SWEDD patients among PD patients and may contribute to understanding the static postural balance and gait strategies of SWEDD patients.