Are gait variability and stability measures influenced by directional changes?

摘要

BackgroundMany gait variability and stability measures have been proposed in the literature, with the aim to quantify gait impairment, degree of neuro-motor control and balance disorders in healthy and pathological subjects. These measures are often obtained from lower trunk acceleration data, typically acquired during rectilinear gait, but relevant experimental protocols and data processing techniques lack in standardization. Since directional changes represent an essential aspect of gait, the assessment of their influence on such measures is essential for standardization. In addition, their investigation is needed to evaluate the applicability of these measures in laboratory trials and in daily life activity analysis. A further methodological aspect to be standardized concerns the assessment of the sampling frequency, which could affect stability measures. The aim of the present study was hence to assess if gait variability and stability measures are affected by directional changes, and to evaluate the influence of sampling frequency of trunk acceleration data on the results.