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© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Background. Patients suffering from cerebellar ataxia have extremely variable gait kinematic features. We investigated whether and how wearable inertial sensors can describe the gait kinematic features among ataxic patients. Methods. We enrolled 17 patients and 16 matched control subjects. We acquired data by means of an inertial sensor attached to an ergonomic belt around pelvis, which was connected to a portable computer via Bluetooth. Recordings of all the patients were obtained during overground walking. From the accelerometric data, we obtained the harmonic ratio (HR), i.e., a measure of the acceleration patterns, smoothness and rhythm, and the step length coefficient of variation (CV), which evaluates the variability of the gait cycle. Results. Compared to controls, patients had a lower HR, meaning a less harmonic and rhythmic acceleration pattern of the trunk, and a higher step length CV, indicating a more variable step length. Both HR and step length CV showed a high effect size in distinguishing patients and controls (p < 0.001 and p = 0.011, respectively). A positive correlation was found between the step length CV and both the number of falls (R = 0.672; p = 0.003) and the clinical severity (ICARS: R = 0.494; p = 0.044; SARA: R = 0.680; p = 0.003). Conclusion. These findings demonstrate that the use of inertial sensors is effective in evaluating gait and balance impairment among ataxic patients.

Details

Title
Exploring Risk of Falls and Dynamic Unbalance in Cerebellar Ataxia by Inertial Sensor Assessment
Author
Caliandro, Pietro 1 ; Conte, Carmela 2 ; Iacovelli, Chiara 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Tatarelli, Antonella 3 ; Castiglia, Stefano Filippo 4 ; Reale, Giuseppe 5 ; Serrao, Mariano 6 

 Unità Operativa Complessa Neurologia, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Largo A. Gemelli, 8, 00168 Rome, Italy; [email protected] 
 IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi, Piazzale Morandi, 6, 20121 Milan, Italy; [email protected] 
 Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Epidemiology and Hygiene, INAIL, via Fontana Candida, 1, 00078 Monte Porzio Catone, Italy; [email protected] 
 Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5, 00185 Rome, Italy; [email protected] (S.F.C.); [email protected] (M.S.) 
 Department of Neurosciences, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo F. Vito, 1, 00168 Rome, Italy; [email protected] 
 Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5, 00185 Rome, Italy; [email protected] (S.F.C.); [email protected] (M.S.); Policlinico Italia, Movement Analysis Laboratory, Piazza del Campidano, 6, 00162 Rome, Italy 
First page
5571
Publication year
2019
Publication date
2019
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
14248220
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2535491902
Copyright
© 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.