Examining the Association Between Self-Reported Estimates of Function and Objective Measures of Gait and Physical Capacity in Lumbar Stenosis.
Charles A Odonkor, Salam Taraben, Christy Tomkins-Lane and 5 others
PMID 34589697WHAT IT FOUND
In a small pilot study, wearable sensors captured gait features that correlated with self-reported disability and neurogenic claudication in lumbar stenosis.
Objective measures like peak angular velocity and liftoff angle may help distinguish severity levels where questionnaires alone might fall short.
Key findings
01Controls walked significantly farther than participants with lumbar stenosis on both the 6-minute walk test and the self-paced walking test.
02Gait features derived from wearable sensors, specifically liftoff angle, effectively distinguished between minimal and moderate disability ratings in patients with lumbar stenosis.
03Peak angular velocity was the gait feature most notable for distinguishing differences in neurogenic claudication symptom severity between quartiles.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study was a pilot with a very small sample size (20 participants), limiting generalizability. Participants were recruited from a single outpatient center and were in later stages of disease. No power calculations were performed. Other comorbidities that limit walking capacity were not excluded and may have affected precision. Implementation of wearable sensors in clinical settings may pose time and resource challenges.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the correlations between wearable sensor data and patient reports as proof that these specific gait features are ready for clinical use. The study was a small pilot with no power calculation, and the authors explicitly state that larger studies are needed to validate these findings.