What is it about?

In patients with a central nervous system pathology, the maintenance of optimal mobility in daily living activities is of utmost importance. Unfortunately, those patients frequently exhibit altered walking capabilities, even in the case of mild disorders. In particular, they falls frequently. The occurrence of a single fall can trap the patient in a vicious circle: the injuries due to the fall can lead to transient disabilities, deconditioning, and fear of falling, which decrease walking capabilities and hence further increase the risk of falling. Consequently, it is of paramount importance to identify patients at high risk of falling even before falls are reported. Furthermore, practical and efficient early detection must rely on rapid and simple tests that can be administered by medical staff in clinical settings. The objective of the study was therefore to explore whether short walk tests evaluated with a wearable inertial sensor could be a solution for a rapid evaluation of fall risk.

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Why is it important?

We analyzed dynamic balance in 83 patients with unsteady gait induced by neurological disorders. They performed a one-minute walking test wearing a 3D accelerometer that measured trunk acceleration. In parallel, 40 healthy individuals served as a control group. Gait stability was assessed using a methodology derived from chaos theory. In summary, the results indicate a good accuracy of the method. It was possible to clearly differentiate between patients and their healthy counterparts. We suggest that the trunk acceleration should be measured in the medio-lateral direction to provide the best evaluation of gait stability.

Perspectives

Accelerometers are used routinely for physical activity monitoring. Due to their ease of use and relatively low cost, those instruments are ideal for rapid gait evaluations in the clinical setting. Here, we showed that these sensor can provide useful information to assess gait stability and, hence, to detect patients at risk for falling

Dr Philippe Terrier
Institute for research in rehabilitation

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This page is a summary of: Could Local Dynamic Stability Serve as an Early Predictor of Falls in Patients with Moderate Neurological Gait Disorders? A Reliability and Comparison Study in Healthy Individuals and in Patients with Paresis of the Lower Extremities, PLoS ONE, June 2014, PLOS,
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0100550.
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