Assistance Systems and Medical Device Technology, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, 26129 Oldenburg, Germany.
Geriatrics Research Group, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Charitéplatz 1, D-10117 Berlin, Germany.
Sensors (Basel). 2021 Feb 13;21(4):1343. doi: 10.3390/s21041343.
This article covers the suitability to measure gait-parameters via a Laser Range Scanner (LRS) that was placed below a chair during the walking phase of the Timed Up&Go Test in a cohort of 92 older adults (mean age 73.5). The results of our study demonstrated a high concordance of gait measurements using a LRS in comparison to the reference GAITRite walkway. Most of aTUG's gait parameters demonstrate a strong correlation coefficient with the GAITRite, indicating high measurement accuracy for the spatial gait parameters. Measurements of velocity had a correlation coefficient of 99%, which can be interpreted as an excellent measurement accuracy. Cadence showed a slightly lower correlation coefficient of 96%, which is still an exceptionally good result, while step length demonstrated a correlation coefficient of 98% per leg and stride length with an accuracy of 99% per leg. In addition to confirming the technical validation of the aTUG regarding its ability to measure gait parameters, we compared results from the GAITRite and the aTUG for several parameters (cadence, velocity, and step length) with results from the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and the Activities-Specific Balance Confidence-(ABC)-Scale assessments. With confidence coefficients for BBS and velocity, cadence and step length ranging from 0.595 to 0.798 and for ABC ranging from 0.395 to 0.541, both scales demonstrated only a medium-sized correlation. Thus, we found an association of better walking ability (represented by the measured gait parameters) with better balance (BBC) and balance confidence (ABC) overall scores via linear regression. This results from the fact that the BBS incorporates both static and dynamic balance measures and thus, only partly reflects functional requirements for walking. For the ABC score, this effect was even more pronounced. As this is to our best knowledge the first evaluation of the association between gait parameters and these balance scores, we will further investigate this phenomenon and aim to integrate further measures into the aTUG to achieve an increased sensitivity for balance ability.
本文探讨了在 92 名老年人（平均年龄 73.5 岁）进行计时起立行走测试（Timed Up & Go Test，TUG）的行走阶段时，在椅子下方放置激光测距扫描仪（Laser Range Scanner，LRS）来测量步态参数的适用性。我们的研究结果表明，与 GAITRite 步道相比，使用 LRS 测量步态参数具有高度一致性。TUG 的大多数步态参数与 GAITRite 具有很强的相关性系数，表明空间步态参数具有很高的测量精度。速度的相关系数为 99%，可以解释为测量精度非常高。步频的相关系数略低，为 96%，但仍是一个非常好的结果，而每条腿的步长和步幅的相关系数分别为 98%和 99%。除了确认 TUG 在测量步态参数方面的技术验证外，我们还将 GAITRite 和 TUG 的结果与 Berg 平衡量表（Berg Balance Scale，BBS）和活动特异性平衡信心量表（Activities-Specific Balance Confidence Scale，ABC 量表）的评估结果进行了比较（步频、速度和步长）。BBS 和速度的置信系数为 0.595 至 0.798，步频和步长的 ABC 系数为 0.395 至 0.541，这两个量表的相关性均为中等。因此，我们通过线性回归发现，更好的步行能力（通过测量的步态参数来表示）与更好的平衡（BBS）和平衡信心（ABC）总评分相关。这是因为 BBS 包含了静态和动态平衡测量，因此只部分反映了行走的功能需求。对于 ABC 评分，这种影响更为明显。由于这是首次评估步态参数与这些平衡评分之间的关系，我们将进一步研究这一现象，并旨在将进一步的测量纳入 TUG 中，以提高对平衡能力的敏感性。
