Researchers tested digital tool called MR-005 that uses music to help set pace
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Listening to rhythm-based cues while walking not only builds lasting walking habits, but also helps people with Parkinson’s disease walk more, at a greater intensity, and more steadily than walking on their own.
These are the findings of a clinical study (NCT05421624) that tested MR-005, a digital tool from MedRhythms that uses music to help set the pace for walking, so that a person can match their steps to the beat they hear. The participants said they also enjoyed the MR-005-based walking program because it felt helpful and motivating.
“Findings from this study advance our understanding on the potential of technology-driven gait rehabilitation that is safe, personalized, habit-forming, and translatable for community use,” the researchers wrote. Gait refers to a person’s walking pattern.
The study, “Amplifying walking activity in Parkinson’s disease through autonomous music-based rhythmic auditory stimulation: randomized controlled trial,” was published in npj Parkinson’s Disease by researchers in the U.S. One of the researchers is an advisor for MedRhythms.
“Left alone, people with [Parkinson’s disease] experience natural declines in daily walking intensity and amount of walking year after year at rates that outpace the decline of other walking-related impairments,” wrote the researchers, who noted that “habitual walking at moderate intensities in sufficient quantities can alleviate motor symptoms in [Parkinson’s disease] and promote improvements in gait and balance.”
Patients “who purposefully engage in regular moderate intensity exercise have a better clinical course of [Parkinson’s disease], including slower declines in postural control and gait functions,” they wrote.
MR-005 was designed to help people with Parkinson’s walk better by using sound to guide their steps. It features sensors for shoes, a headset that plays sound through the bones near the ears, and a touchscreen device with special software.
To test MedRhythms’ digital tool, the researchers analyzed real-world walking activity, gait variability, and strength of walking habits in 21 patients who used MR-005 while walking and 20 who walked on their own. MR-005 played familiar songs from each person’s favorite genre. Both groups walked regularly for six weeks, followed by two weeks of walking as they liked, without any guidance.
Both groups included older adults with only mild problems in balance and walking. Most felt fairly confident about walking at a moderate pace and none changed their medications during the study.
The group using MR-005 took more steps daily, walked more often at a moderate to vigorous pace, and had better walking patterns, or reduced gait variability, meaning their steps were more even and steady. This is important because uneven walking can lead to falls or fatigue in Parkinson’s. Patients using MR-005 took over 3,000 more than their usual, while those not using it walked 172 more steps daily.
Even during the two-week follow-up, the MR-005 group still walked more, with step increases that were large enough to be considered meaningful in a clinical setting. Once the program ended and MR-005 was no longer used, the gains faded, and the control group walked even less than before.
The MR-005 group also walked at a moderate pace for much longer each day. Over six weeks, these patients gained an average of 23.38 more minutes per day, compared with 6.91 minutes in the control group. This significant difference remained during the two-week follow-up, but disappeared eight weeks after the program completed, when moderate walking intensity returned to starting levels in both groups.
“Notably, these increases in moderate intensity walking align with public health physical activity recommendations for adults with chronic conditions (e.g. daily 30-minute moderate intensity walking),” the researchers wrote.
The percentage of time spent walking at a moderate pace was also significantly higher in the MR-005 group after the six-week program (83.11% vs. 46.07%) and after the two-week follow-up (76.63% vs. 37.91%).
The study also evaluated how much walking became a habit for each patient using a scale from 0 to 100. At the start, both groups showed moderate habit strength. By the end of the study, both groups improved similarly, with scores rising by an average of 14.8 points in the MR-005 group and 13.8 points in the control group.
“While both interventions cultivated ‘walking for exercise’ habits, only the intervention with the MR-005 system yielded a combination of strengthened habits, amplified walking activity, and improved gait quality,” the researchers wrote.
More than 70% of patients using MR-005 reported physical activity and walking improvements, compared with about half of those not using it. The members of the MR-005 group said they liked the walking program because it felt helpful, motivating, and enjoyable. A few improvements they suggestedincluded getting feedback or reminders while walking and choosing specific songs, instead of a music genre.
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