Abstract
Introduction: Gait impairment is common in spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and is described using clinical assessments and instrumented walkways. Continuous over-ground walking has not been studied. Methods: Nine SMA participants completed the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) and 10-meter walk/run wearing instrumented footwear (SoleSound). Data were simultaneously collected using a reference system (GAITRite). The root-mean-square error (RMSE) indicated criterion validity. The decrease in walking speed represented fatigue. Foot loading patterns were evaluated using force sensors. Results: The RMSE for stride time, length, and velocity ranged from 1.3% to 1.7%. Fatigue was 11.6 ± 9.1%, which corresponded to an average deceleration of 0.37 ± 0.28 mm/s2. Participants spent most of their stance without heel contact. Forefoot contact occurred early in the gait cycle. Conclusions: These results suggest that footwear-based devices are an alternative to specialized equipment for gait assessment. Better understanding of gait disturbances should inform ongoing treatment efforts and provide a more sensitive outcome measure. Muscle Nerve 56: 230–236, 2017.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 230-236 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Muscle and Nerve |
Volume | 56 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 2017 |
Keywords
- 6-minute walk test
- Inertial Sensors
- Wearable Technologies
- fatigue
- gait
- outcome measure
- reliability
- spinal muscular atrophy
- validation