Evaluation of an instrumented walkway for measurement of the kinematic parameters of gait

Gait variability while dual-tasking: fall predictor in older inpatients?

“…The binary threshold was determined post-hoc using sensitivity analyses (CV>4% for walking alone, CV>10% for walking backwards counting). Interestingly, the 4% CV cut-off found for our study sample while walking alone supports previously reported data from community-dwelling older adults, in which the mean CV of fallers were identified at 4.1%, compared with 2.4% in non-fallers and 1.9% in young adults (22).…”

“…To ensure safety, a fabric belt 7 cm wide was placed around each subject's waist, for easy grasp by a research assistant who walked beside the walkway, slightly behind the subjects, during all trials. Stride time in both walking conditions was determined during steady-state walking using a GAITRite ® -System (GAITRite Gold, CIR Systems, PA, USA), (20,22,28,29), consisting of a 10-m long carpet with an integrated, pressure-sensitive electronic surface of 7.32 x 0.61 m connected to a personal portable computer via an interface cable. The pressure-sensitive surface includes a series of sensors (total 13,824) placed every 1.27 cm, with their centers placed in a 48 x 288 grid, and activated by mechanical pressure.…”

“…However, the recent availability and growing number of validated, user-friendly portable gait analysis systems (22)(23)(24)(25)(26) allow simple quantitative gait measurements in older individuals, performed outside biomechanical gait laboratories in a more familiar environment with less technical equipment, lower costs, and less time required. Systematic quantification of gait in older inpatients during hospital stay may considerably enhance the quality of fall risk assessment by documenting obvious gait disorders and/or detecting subtle, specific fall-related gait changes, such as increased gait variability, particularly while dual-tasking.…”

Orthopaedic Shoes Improve Gait in a Charcot-Marie-Tooth Patient

“…This method is a useful means of following up the parameters of interest. Gaitrite 1 , the validity of which was previously established (Cutlip et al 2000;Bilney et al 2003) has been used to analyse gait in a few neurological pathologies such as Parkinson's disease (Nelson et al 2002); no studies seem to have been carried out with Gaitrite 1 on gait in CMT patients with bracing, although Metaxiotis et al (2000) have performed a dynamic pedobarography study on cavovarus foot deformity in CMT, in which they recorded the pre-and post-operative pressure parameters and foot contact areas. This study made it possible to assess and classify cavovarus feet and to objectively quantify the components of equino-cavo-varus foot.…”

Stride length: measuring its instantaneous value

“…Devices used for these measurements are based mainly in two technologies: (a) capturing video images and (b) quantifying the distribution of the step pressure by means of a high number of sensors on force platforms and walkways [3][4] [5]. The availability of these devices is usually limited by price and also by their requirements on installation and specialized personnel.…”