Article

Stride-to-stride variability and local dynamic stability of gait kinematics are
promising measures to identify individuals at increased risk of falling. This study aimed to explore the feasibility of using these metrics in clinical
practice and ambulatory assessment, where only a small number of consecutive
strides are available. The concurrent validity and reliability were assessed
compared to more continuous walking. Twenty young adults walked continuously for
500 m, as well as 36 bouts of 20 m while wearing an accelerometer (DynaPort
MiniMod) on the trunk. Within-day reliability was high for stride time
variability, mediolateral trunk variability and local dynamic stability, while
between-day reliability was low for both variability estimates and moderate for
local dynamic stability. Stride time variability and mediolateral trunk
variability were increased when walking short bouts and did not correlate well
with the longer walking trials. Local dynamic stability did correlate highly
between the long and short bouts trials, and 15 bouts of eight strides appeared
to be sufficient for valid estimation. These results imply task-specific
differences and low reliability of variability estimates rendering them unsuitable for application to short bouts of gait, while local dynamic stability
can be readily employed.

Langue : ANGLAIS