Effects of augmented reality cueing strategies on freezing of gait: The ELIMINATE FoG trial

Background: Freezing of gait (FoG) is a treatment-resistant symptom of Parkinson disease (PD). Augmented reality (AR) cues have been investigated as a therapy for FoG, with inconclusive results from a limited array of AR constructs. Objectives: Compare four modalities of a novel AR cue to physical and no-cue controls. Methods: AR cue, no-cue control). Primary outcomes were FoG duration and incidence, manually annotated. Secondary outcomes included survey questions and gait parameters derived from IMUs. Results: cue reduced FoG incidence compared to all other conditions (N = 36, p ≤ 0.016, WES ≥ 0.40). Participants' preferred AR cues decreased FoG duration (N = 28, p ≤ 0.004, WES ≥ 0.48) and incidence (N = 28, p ≤ 0.022, WES ≥ 0.38) compared to controls. Differences in kinematic outcomes were negligible. Survey results indicated receptiveness toward AR cueing, with diversity in preferred cue activation modalities. No significant adverse events occurred. Conclusions: AR cueing decreased FoG incidence and duration compared to controls. Efficacy of discrete cueing modalities likely depends on user intrinsic factors, such as preference.