Objective: To assess the kinematic gait parameters in patients with ataxia using gait analysis product “GAITRite”.

Background: Ataxia is a disorder of balance and coordination resulted from dysfunctions involving cerebellum and its afferent and efferent connections leading to balance deficits, and gait imbalance. Gait involves multiple subsets and each of these subsets can be assessed by measuring gait parameters using kinematic gait analysis.

Method: An observational study was conducted at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, India with 14 patients of genetically positive spinocerebellar ataxia. Spatiotemporal gait parameters were examined using the GAITRite Walkway System. All important parameters were measured including: step time, step length, stride length, ambulation time and velocity. The Functional Ambulation Performance Score (FAP) was also calculated for each patient.

Results: We found a significant covariation in the step and stride length in almost all the patients. The mean normalized velocity (MNV) and the Cadence were the most affected in this particular group of patients. MNV was found to be 0.77 while the Cadence was 93.79 steps/min which is significantly lesser than the normative data. The mean FAP score was found to be 73.29 which is also significantly very less as compared to the healthy individuals.

Conclusion: Our results indicate that patients suffering from SCA have significantly lower FAP score indicating very poor gait. These results indicate that the GAITRite system can be an important tool in measuring foot patterns and selected time and distance measurements of individuals with cerebellar dysfunction.It may also be used to assess improvement  after rehabilitation as well as genetic and   medical interventions.

« Back to 2019 International Congress

MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/kinematic-gait-analysis-in-patients-with-ataxic-disorders/