Short CommunicationReliability of gait in multiple sclerosis over 6 months
Section snippets
Participants
Participants were 74 ambulatory persons with MS. Inclusion criteria were: (1) MS diagnosis; (2) relapse free for 30 days prior to both testing sessions; (3) ability to travel to the research facility twice over a 6-month period; (4) age between 18 and 64 years of age; and (5) ambulatory with or without aid.
Procedures
The procedure was reviewed and approved by the local Institutional Review Board, and all participants provided written informed consent. Participants initially provided basic demographic
Results
The overall sample had an average age of 49.2 ± 9.0 years and was primarily female (80%). The average duration since diagnosis of MS was 11.8 ± 8.2 years. 78% of the sample reported having relapse remitting MS, 14% reported secondary progressive and 8% reported primary progressive MS. The median PDDS score was 3.0 (IQR = 3.0) and ranged from 0 to 6.
Descriptive statistics for spatiotemporal gait parameters per assessment are presented in Table 1. Gait velocity was significantly increased over time by
Discussion
The current investigation provides estimates of reliability for common spatiotemporal parameters of gait in MS. Gait velocity, FAP score, step length, time and cadence were all reliable over 6-months. Double support percentage and base of support had lower reliability over 6-months. Such results generally confirm the reliability of this gait behavior over a clinically feasible time scale of 6-months. By comparison, other investigations have typically established reliability of various walking
Funding
This project was funded in part by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (PP 1695).
Conflict of interest statement
The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.
References (13)
Ambulation and multiple sclerosis
Phys Med Rehabil Clin N Am
(2013)- et al.
Gait analysis in multiple sclerosis: characterization of temporal-spatial parameters using GAITRite functional ambulation system
Gait Posture
(2009) - et al.
Gait and six-minute walk performance in persons with multiple sclerosis
J Neurol Sci
(2013) - et al.
Quantifying gait impairment in multiple sclerosis using GAITRite technology
Gait Posture
(2011) - et al.
Concurrent related validity of the GAITRite walkway system for quantification of the spatial and temporal parameters of gait
Gait Posture
(2003) - et al.
Reliability of spatial–temporal gait parameters during dual-task interference in people with multiple sclerosis. A cross-sectional study
Gait Posture
(2014)
Cited by (11)
Test-retest reliability and minimal detectable change of ankle kinematics and spatiotemporal parameters in MS population
2019, Gait and PostureCitation Excerpt :In accordance with the present results, previous studies have demonstrated that spatiotemporal parameters are reliable and highly repeatable in the healthy population [32], along with cadence and walking speed (ICC range 0.76–0.95) for children with CP [20,33]. Although estimates of reliability for gait kinematics have not been reported in the MS population, a study by Sosnoff et al. [34] examined the reliability of walking speed, cadence and step length. They reported that in a group of pwMS with a varied disability level [Patient Determined Disease Steps (PDSS) range 0–6] there were excellent ICC values (0.91) for the spatiotemporal parameters similar to our findings for both groups.
Gait tests in multiple sclerosis: Reliability and cut-off values
2019, Gait and PostureCitation Excerpt :These results satisfied the criteria for acceptable reliability in the subsamples [39]. This complements previous studies [15,16,18,32,38,40]. As shown before [15], reliability was better in the group with MS than in the control population.
Between-Day Reliability of the Gait Characteristics and Their Changes During the 6-Minute Walking Test in People With Multiple Sclerosis
2024, Neurorehabilitation and Neural RepairA Parkinson’s disease diagnosis approach for nonequilibrium gait data
2023, International Journal of Modeling, Simulation, and Scientific ComputingOrthotic shorts for improving gait and walking in multiple sclerosis: a feasibility study
2023, Disability and Rehabilitation