The Foot Fault Scoring System to Assess Skilled Walking in Rodents: A Reliability Study

Abstract

The foot fault scoring system of the ladder rung walking test (LRWT) is used to assess skilled walking in rodents. However, the reliability of the LRWT foot fault score has not been properly addressed. This study was designed to address this issue. Two independent and blinded raters analyzed 20 rats and 20 mice videos. Each video was analyzed twice by the same rater (80 analyses per rater). The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and the Kappa coefficient were employed to check the accuracy of agreement and reliability in the intra- and inter-rater analyses of the LRWT outcomes. Excellent intra- and inter-rater agreements were found for the forelimb, hindlimb, and both limbs combined in rats and mice. The agreement level was also excellent for total crossing time, total time stopped, and the number of stops during the walking path. Rating individual scores in the foot fault score system (0–6) ranged from satisfactory to excellent, in terms of the intraclass correlation indexes. Moreover, we showed that experienced and inexperienced raters can obtain reliable results if supervised training is provided. We concluded that the LRWT is a reliable and useful tool to study skilled walking in rodents and can help researchers address walking-related neurobiological questions.

Intermediate gray matter interneurons in the lumbar spinal cord play a critical and necessary role in coordinated locomotion

“…Although the BBB score is useful in characterizing SCI animals, it is not as sensitive for tasks we believe are affected by our lesion model. Therefore, we opted for tasks specific for our lesion paradigm such as rhythmic and skilled walking, where animals were tested on an even horizontal ladder, uneven horizontal ladder [ 37 ] and inclined beam [ 38 ] ( Fig 3 ). KA rats show significantly higher number of hindlimb slips on both the even and uneven horizontal ladders indicating deficits in rhythmic walking ( Fig 3B : even ladder controls = 0.70 ± 0.34%, KA = 39.91 ± 15.81%) and coordination ( Fig 3E : uneven ladder controls = 1.71 ± 0.91%, KA = 48.68 ± 15.12%).…”

Intermediate Gray Matter Interneurons in the Lumbar Spinal Cord Play a Critical and Necessary Role in Coordinated Locomotion

“…Although the BBB score is useful in characterizing SCI animals, it is not as sensitive for tasks we believe are affected by our lesion model. Therefore, we opted for tasks specific for our lesion paradigm such as rhythmic and skilled walking, where animals were tested on an even horizontal ladder, uneven horizontal ladder (Martins et al, 2022) and inclined beam (Carter et al, 2001) ( Fig. 3 A,D,G ).…”

Exposure to an enriched environment modulates the synaptic vesicle cycle in a mouse spinal cord injury model

“…The total score in each trial (TS) was determined by summing the obtained scores. Each left and right hind limb was evaluated using the Skilled Walking Performance Score method with some modifications [32][33][34][35] . Hindlimb positioning was qualitatively assessed using a foot grading system employing a 7-category scale (0-6 points).…”