A Moving Experience - GAITRite offers clinicians a solution for quantifying gait changes
Advance for Directors in Rehabilitation, March 2008
Kathleen B. Jedlovic, PT, MS, PCS; Andrea Batt, PT, PCS

www.gaitrite.com/2008/A_Moving_Experience_Products_at_Work_Advance_Directors_March_2008.pdf

Gait and Balance Performance Improvements Attributable to Ankle-Foot Orthosis in Subjects with Hemiparesis.
American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. 86(7):556-562, July 2007.
Wang, Ray-Yau PT, PhD; Lin , Pei -Yi PT; Lee, Chao-Chung PT, MS; Yang, Yea-Ru PT, PhD

Abstract: Wang R-Y, Lin P-Y, Lee C-C, Yang Y-R: Gait and balance performance improvements attributable to ankle-foot orthosis in subjects with hemiparesis. Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2007;86:556-562.

Objective: To assess the change in the balance performance and the improvement in the gait performance of subjects with hemiparesis, as a result of their wearing an ankle-foot orthosis.

Design: This was a cross-sectional control trial. Fifty-eight subjects with hemiparesis of a duration of less than 6 mos participated in this study. Each subject was evaluated for the balance and gait performance with and without an ankle-foot orthosis on the affected side. The balance activities were evaluated by the Balance Master System, and the gait performance was measured using GAITRite.

Results: The increase in movement velocity and the change in maximal excursion toward the affected side during the balance testing were found to be correlated significantly with the change in walking speed as a result of wearing an ankle-foot orthosis (r = 0.274, P = 0.039; r = 0.325, P = 0.020; respectively). Only the change in maximal excursion toward the affected side was found to be significantly correlated with the change in nonaffected step length (r = 0.381, P = 0.010).

Conclusion: The maximal excursion toward the affected side improved as a result of wearing an ankle-foot orthosis. This correlated with an increase in step length on the nonaffected side and, hence, an improvement in the walking speed of the subjects with hemiparesis.

Orthopaedic shoes improve gait in a Charcot-Marie-Tooth patient: A combined clinical and quantified case study
M. C. Guzian; L. Bensoussan; J. M. Viton; V. Mihle De Bovis; J. Ramon; J. P. Azulay; A. Delarque
Prosthetics and Orthotics International, Volume 30, Issue 1 April 2006 , pages 87 - 96

Abstract: The aim of this study was to assess the extent to which orthopaedic shoes improved gait in a patient with Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease and to show how the latest gait analysis tools available can help to assess and quantify the efficacy of this treatment. The case of a 55-year-old woman with CMT disease is described. She complained mainly of pain and frequent falling. The physical examination and the clinical gait analysis showed the presence of bilateral foot drop, high-stepping and varus. Treatment based on physical therapy and orthopaedic shoes was prescribed. In order to assess the clinical efficacy of the treatment, a complete physical examination was carried out after the patient had been wearing the orthopaedic shoes for one month. The quantified assessment was performed with a GAITrite® system, which can be used to record the spatio-temporal parameters of gait. It was concluded that orthopaedic shoes provide specialists in physical and rehabilitation medicine with an excellent means of treating gait disabilities in patients with CMT disease. With the made-to-measure orthopaedic shoes used, the falling and pain disappeared; the patient's walking speed increased and the foot support base decreased in size. Both the clinical and quantified data confirmed the subjective improvement perceived by the patient. The latest tools available for performing quantified gait analysis in clinical practice provide useful means of objectively assessing the success of treatment.