Gait assessment with solesound instrumented footwear in spinal muscular atrophy

Jacqueline Montes, Damiano Zanotto, Sally Dunaway Young, Rachel Salazar, Darryl C. De Vivo, Sunil Agrawal

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Scopus citations

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 languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)230-236
Number of pages7
JournalMuscle and Nerve
Volume56
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2017

Keywords

  • 6-minute walk test
  • Inertial Sensors
  • Wearable Technologies
  • fatigue
  • gait
  • outcome measure
  • reliability
  • spinal muscular atrophy
  • validation

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