Premium
Wearable gait sensors to measure ataxia due to spinocerebellar degeneration
Author(s) -
Terayama Keiichiro,
Sakakibara Ryuji,
Ogawa Akihiro
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
neurology and clinical neuroscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.125
0ISSN - 2049-4173
DOI - 10.1111/ncn3.12174
Subject(s) - gait , spinocerebellar ataxia , rank correlation , ataxia , medicine , physical medicine and rehabilitation , gait analysis , stride , cerebellar ataxia , cadence , gait ataxia , physical therapy , statistics , mathematics , psychiatry
Abstract Background and Aim Limited attention has been paid to the relationship between wearable gait sensors in cerebellar ataxia. Objective We aimed to correlate a bed‐side ataxia measure with wearable gait sensor parameters in patients with spinocerebellar degeneration ( SCD ). Methods We recruited 14 SCD patients capable of walking independently: six men and eight women, mean age 59.4 years, disease duration 5.3 years, pure cerebellar type 10, cerebellar‐plus type 4, but with few symptoms other than cerebellar ataxia. All patients were assessed by the Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia ( SARA ) and the Gait‐Kun system, a wearable gait sensor with triple‐axial accelerometers. Statistical analysis was performed by Spearman's rank correlation coefficient test and multiple regression analysis test. Significance was estimated as P < 0.05. Results We found that (i) the Gait‐Kun system can be used easily in cerebellar ataxia patients; (ii) Spearman's rank correlation coefficient test showed a close relationship between SARA gait subcategory and (a) converted number of steps (indicating shorter stride) ( P < 0.01) and (b) step‐width variation (indicating staggering) ( P < 0.01); and (iii) multiple regression analysis showed a close relationship between SARA gait and converted number of steps (indicating shorter stride) ( P = 0.001). Conclusion Using the Gait‐Kun system (wearable sensors), there was a close relationship between SARA gait subcategory and both converted number of steps and step‐width variation, indicating that not only step‐width variability but also shorter stride is a feature of ataxic gait abnormalities.