Validity of the GAITRite® walkway system for the measurement of averaged and individual step parameters of gait

doi:10.1016/j.gaitpost.2004.10.005

Gait & Posture

Volume 22, Issue 4, December 2005, Pages 317-321

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2004.10.005 Get rights and content

Abstract

This study compared individual step and averaged spatial and temporal gait parameters measured with an instrumented walkway system (GAITRite^®) with a three-dimensional motional analysis system (Vicon-512^®). Ten subjects aged 54–83 years (mean 66.5 years) who had undergone knee replacement surgery participated. Subjects walked across the GAITRite^® walkway at self-selected comfortable and fast speeds at the same time as the Vicon^® system recorded the motion of reflective markers attached to the subjects’ shoes. Walking speed, cadence, step length and step time variables, averaged across one walk for both systems, showed an excellent level of agreement with intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) between 0.92 and 0.99 and repeatability coefficients (RCs) between 1.0% and 5.9% of mean values. Step length and step time variables recorded for each footstep also showed good agreement between the systems at both comfortable and fast speeds (ICCs between 0.91 and 0.99; RCs between 2.6% and 7.8%). Frequency distributions showed that individual step values were within 1.5 cm and 0.02 s on the majority (80–94%) of occasions. These data indicate that the GAITRite^® system is a valid tool for measuring both averaged and individual step parameters of gait. It is also valid for use in older subjects following knee joint replacement surgery.

Introduction

Temporal and spatial parameters of gait, when measured accurately, provide useful diagnostic and therapeutic information. However, there is often a trade off between the accuracy of a gait measuring device and its applicability for clinical use. For example, three-dimensional motion analysis systems measure gait with a high degree of precision but are costly, technically difficult to use and labour intensive, and therefore not readily applicable to clinical settings [1]. To address such limitations, the recently introduced GAITRite^® system has been designed to measure temporal and spatial gait parameters with accuracy comparable to sophisticated motion analysis systems, but in an automated fashion.

The GAITRite^® system consists of a portable walkway embedded with pressure-activated sensors. The walkway detects the timing of sensor activation as well as the relative distances between the activated sensors, and feeds this information into application software that calculates spatial and temporal gait parameters for individual footfalls as well as an overall average for each parameter. Initial studies assessed the concurrent validity of the GAITRite^® system with single camera video-based systems and paper and pencil measures [2], [3], [4]. Whilst the GAITRite^® system demonstrated good agreement for temporal measures with video-based systems, and good agreement for spatial measures with paper and pencil methods, neither of these systems could be regarded as a ‘gold standard’ for establishing criterion validity. A subsequent study by Bilney et al. [5] reported high correlations between GAITRite^® and the Clinical Stride Analyzer^® for both spatial and temporal parameters. There were however, systematic differences between the two systems for single and double limb support times. To date, no study has evaluated the concurrent validity of the GAITRite^® system using three-dimensional motion analysis as the criterion measure.

One feature of the GAITRite^® system is the ability to record individual footstep data. This allows for assessment of the step-to-step variability of gait parameters. The importance of measuring gait variability is being increasingly recognized. For example, gait variability has been suggested to be an important predictor of the risk of falling [6], [7], [8]. However, the validity of the GAITRite^® system for measuring gait parameters on a step-to-step basis is yet to be determined. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to evaluate the concurrent validity of the GAITRite^® system with a three-dimensional motion analysis system for spatial and temporal gait variables that were recorded for (1) individual footsteps and (2) averaged for one pass of the walkway. Although previous validation of GAITRite^® has been undertaken with relatively young healthy subjects, we felt it was appropriate to test a sample of older subjects from a clinical population for whom gait analysis is particularly applicable.

Section snippets

Subjects

Ten subjects who had undergone unicompartmental knee replacement volunteered to participate. There were five males and five females with a mean age of 66.5 years (range 54–83). The average height and weight of the subjects was 168.5 cm (154–180 cm range) and 81.8 kg (67–90 kg range), respectively. Each subject was tested at least 12 months after surgery (mean: 20 months; range: 12–30 months), and had achieved a successful recovery (i.e. no ongoing joint pain and a return to normal daily

Validity of averaged gait parameters

Table 1 shows comparative data for the two measurement systems for gait parameters averaged across one walk in the 10 subjects. Mean values were very similar between the two systems, and paired sample t-tests showed that the values recorded by the two systems were not significantly different from each other for any of the recorded variables in either speed condition (P > 0.1 for all comparisons). ICCs, also shown in Table 1, demonstrated an excellent level of absolute agreement between the

Discussion

The main finding of this study was the high degree of similarity between spatial and temporal gait parameters measured using the GAITRite^® and Vicon^® systems. The data support previous findings which have shown good concurrent validity of the GAITRite^® for measures of speed, cadence and step length [2], [3], [4], [5]. More importantly, the present data extend the existing literature by demonstrating that GAITRite^® has excellent concurrent validity for measuring individual footstep data.

Gait

Conclusion

The GAITRite^® system was shown to be a valid tool for measuring selected averaged and individual spatial and temporal gait parameters in an older adult group who had undergone knee replacement surgery. The system was easy to use and enabled gait to be measured in an automated fashion without any encumbering attachments. Such features make this system a viable option for clinical use.

Acknowledgement

This research was supported in part by a La Trobe University Collaborative Grant in partnership with Stryker Australia Pty Ltd.

References (11)

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Validity of the GAITRite® walkway system for the measurement of averaged and individual step parameters of gait

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Subjects

Validity of averaged gait parameters

Discussion

Conclusion

Acknowledgement

Gait Posture

Arch Phys Med Rehabil

Gait Posture

Arch Phys Med Rehabil

Gait Posture

Validity of the GAITRite^® walkway system for the measurement of averaged and individual step parameters of gait