---
title: Improve walking with Parkinson medication
nct_id: NCT02994719
status: RECRUITING
sponsor: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
study_type: OBSERVATIONAL
canonical_url: "https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT02994719"
clinicaltrials_gov: "https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02994719"
last_fetched: "2026-05-10T14:08:18.545Z"
source: "Parkinson's Pathways (curated)"
---
# Improve walking with Parkinson medication

**Goal (in five words):** Improve walking with Parkinson medication

**Official Title:** Gait Pattern Analysis in Neurological Disease

**Trial ID:** [NCT02994719](https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02994719)

## Key Facts

- **Status:** RECRUITING
- **Study Type:** OBSERVATIONAL
- **Sponsor:** Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
- **Target Enrollment:** 120 participants
- **Start Date:** 2016-03-01
- **Completion Date:** 2026-06-20
- **Conditions:** Parkinson's Disease, Parkinsonian Disorders, Atypical Parkinson Disease, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Multiple System Atrophy, Corticobasal Degeneration, Gait, Frontal, Huntington Disease
- **Interventions:** Anti-Parkinson medication, Deep Brain Stimulation
- **Intervention Types:** DRUG, DEVICE

## Summary For Families

The goal is to map how Parkinson's and related disorders change walking, and to measure how anti-Parkinson medications and deep brain stimulation alter gait compared with healthy adults. Participants have their walking recorded while on their usual anti-Parkinson meds, which raise brain dopamine to improve movement, and for those with DBS the team may compare gait with stimulation on versus off, using motion analysis and sensors to quantify stride, speed, variability, and frontal gait features. Adults 18 to 85 are eligible, including people with Parkinson's or atypical parkinsonism who have at least two cardinal motor signs and healthy controls without walking complaints, with requirements for cognitive screening, safe mobility, and exclusions for other causes of parkinsonism, recent hospitalization, serious heart or lung disease, or participation in another interventional trial.

## Eligibility

- **Minimum age:** 18 Years
- **Maximum age:** 85 Years
- **Sex:** ALL

### Full Criteria

```
Inclusion Criteria:

* Age 18-85 (for both healthy and affected subjects).
* Presence of at least 2 of the following: bradykinesia, rest tremor, rigidity, postural instability (UK PD Brain Bank Criteria) (Affected subjects only).
* Montreal Cognitive Assessment will be employed to determine whether subjects will need the assent of a legally authorized representative. Subjects with MOCA ≤ 21 will be consented only with the assent of the subject and informed consent of the authorized legal representative (Affected subjects only).
* These may include subjects who may have indeterminate parkinsonism, when it is not clear whether they have idiopathic Parkinson's Disease versus one of the Atypical Parkinsonisms, such as Vascular Parkinsonism, Multiple System Atrophy, Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus or Corticobasal Degeneration (Affected subjects only).
* Subjects with assistive devices will be eligible for the study and may use them during the study (Affected subjects only).
* Absence of complaints regarding difficulty walking such as arthritic pain, fatigue during walking or slowness of walking (Healthy subjects only).

Exclusion Criteria:

* Presence of alternative explanation for parkinsonism such as head trauma, drug-induced parkinsonism (affected subjects only).
* Currently being treated for major medical illness requiring recent hospitalization (\<14 days) (for both healthy and affected subjects).
* Currently participating in another clinical study with an intervention arm (for both healthy and affected subjects).
* Inability to consent due to cognitive impairment and absence of legally authorized representative (for both healthy and affected subjects).
* Subjects with any cardiac, pulmonary conditions (congestive heart failure requiring hospitalization within the past 90 days, recent myocardial infarction \< 90 days, supplemental oxygen-requiring subjects due to cardiac or pulmonary conditions) that limit their ability to safely participate in a walking trial (for both healthy and affected subjects).
```

## Locations (1)

- Clinical Research Center BIDMC, Boston, Massachusetts, United States _(42.3584, -71.0598)_

## Central Contacts

- Veronique Vanderhorst, MD PhD — (CONTACT) — 617-667-0519 — vvanderh@bidmc.harvard.edu

---

*Canonical: https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT02994719*  
*HTML version: https://parkinsonspathways.com/trial/NCT02994719*  
*Source data: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02994719*