The relationships between lower-extremity dexterity and fall risk, fear of falling, and walking skills in People with Parkinson’s disease

The link between lower extremity dexterity and fall risk among people with Parkinson’s disease (PwPD) needs to be explore. To examine the relationships between lower-extremity dexterity and fall risk, fear of falling (FoF), and walking skills in PwPD. Thirty PwPD were included in the study. Fall risk was determined by the number of falls in the last six months. The Lower-Extremity Dexterity Task (LEDT) for lower-extremity dexterity; the Activities-Specific Balance Confidence Scale (ABC) for FoF; 10-Meter Walk Test (10MWT), the Timed Up and Go Test (TUG), the Figure-of-Eight Walk Test (FEWT), and the Three-Meter Backward Walk Test (TMBWT) for walking skills were used. Fallers were significantly worse than non-fallers in terms of disease duration, H&Y, UPDRS-3, LEDT Most affected side (MAS), LEDT Least affected side (LAS), ABC, 10MWT, TUG, FEWT and TMBWT (p < 0.05). The LEDT-MAS and LEDT-LAS side were highly correlated with ABC, TUG, and FEWT and moderately correlated with H&Y, UPDRS-3, 10MWT, TMBWT (p < 0.05). The LEDT was a predictor of fall risk with an odds ratio of 1.204 (1.042–1.391) for MAS and odds ratio 1.245 (1.055–1.469) for LAS. The cut-off time of LEDT for best discriminating fallers from non-fallers was 26.23 s for MAS and 23.11 s for LAS. Lower-extremity dexterity is an independent predictor of fall risk in PwPD. Moreover, lower-extremity dexterity is related to FoF and walking skills in PwPD.