Clinimetric Properties of Timed Walking Events Among Patient Populations Commonly Encountered in Orthotic and Prosthetic Rehabilitation

Differences in gait parameters when crossing real versus projected everyday life obstacles in healthy children and adolescents

Practicing complex everyday life walking activities is challenging in paediatric neurorehabilitation, although it would prepare patients more comprehensively for the requirements of daily life. Floor projections allow simulation and training of such situations in therapy. Twenty healthy youths aged 6-18 years stepped over a tree trunk and balanced over kerbstones in a real and projected condition. Spatiotemporal and kinematic parameters of the two conditions were compared by equivalence analysis, using the medians of the differences between the two conditions with their bootstrapped 95% confidence intervals. Velocity, step and stride length, step width, and single support time were generally equivalent between the two conditions. Knee and hip joint angles and toe clearance decreased substantially during the execution phase of the projected tree trunk condition. The largest differences were found at the end of the execution phase in both tasks for the ankle joints. As spatiotemporal parameters were equivalent between the conditions, floor projections seem suitable to train precise foot placement. However, differences in knee and hip joint kinematics and toe clearance revealed that floor projections are not applicable for obstacles with a vertical extension. Therefore, exercises aiming at knee and hip flexion improvement should favourably be trained with real objects.

Informing the development of an outcome set and banks of items to measure mobility among individuals with acquired brain injury using natural language processing

BACKGROUND

The sheer number of measures evaluating mobility and inconsistencies in terminology make it challenging to extract potential core domains and items. Automating a portion of the data synthesis would allow us to cover a much larger volume of studies and databases in a smaller fraction of the time compared to the usual process. Thus, the objective of this study was to identify a comprehensive outcome set and develop preliminary banks of items of mobility among individuals with acquired brain injury (ABI) using Natural Language Processing (NLP).

METHODS

An umbrella review of 47 reviews evaluating the content of mobility measures among individuals with ABI was conducted. A search was performed on 5 databases between 2000 and 2020. Two independent reviewers retrieved copies of the measures and extracted mobility domains and items. A pre-trained BERT model (state-of-the-art model for NLP) provided vector representations for each sentence. Using the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health Framework (ICF) ontology as a guide for clustering, a k-means algorithm was used to retrieve clusters of similar sentences from their embeddings. The resulting embedding clusters were evaluated using the Silhouette score and fine-tuned according to expert input.

RESULTS

The study identified 246 mobility measures, including 474 domains and 2109 items. Encoding the clusters using the ICF ontology and expert knowledge helped in regrouping the items in a way that is more closely related to mobility terminology. Our best results identified banks of items that were used to create a 24 comprehensive outcome sets of mobility, including Upper Extremity Mobility, Emotional Function, Balance, Motor Control, Self-care, Social Life and Relationships, Cognition, Walking, Postural Transition, Recreation, and Leisure Activities, Activities of Daily Living, Physical Functioning, Communication, Work/Study, Climbing, Sensory Functions, General Health, Fatigue, Functional Independence, Pain, Alcohol and Drugs Use, Transportation, Sleeping, and Finances.

CONCLUSION

The banks of items of mobility domains represent a first step toward establishing a comprehensive outcome set and a common language of mobility to develop the ontology. It enables researchers and healthcare professionals to begin exposing the content of mobility measures as a way to assess mobility comprehensively.

Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Rehabilitation of Lower Limb Amputation: An Update from the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense

Between 2015 and 2017, the US Department of Veterans Affairs and the US Department of Defense developed a clinical practice guideline for rehabilitation of lower limb amputation to address key clinical questions. A multidisciplinary workgroup of US Department of Veterans Affairs and US Department of Defense amputation care subject matter experts was formed, and an extensive literature search was performed which identified 3685 citations published from January 2007 to July 2016. Articles were excluded based on established review criteria resulting in 74 studies being considered as evidence addressing one or more of the identified key issues. The identified literature was evaluated and graded using the National Academies of Science GRADE criteria. Recommendations were formulated after extensive review. Eighteen recommendations were confirmed with four having strong evidence and workgroup confidence in the recommendation. Key recommendations address patient and caregiver education, consideration for the use of rigid and semirigid dressings, consideration for the use of microprocessor knees, and managed lifetime care that includes annual transdisciplinary assessments. In conclusion, this clinical practice guideline used the best available evidence from the past 10 yrs to provide key management recommendations to enhance the quality and consistency of rehabilitation care for persons with lower limb amputation.

Inertial sensors versus standard systems in gait analysis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

The increasing popularity of inertial sensors in clinical practice is not supported by precise information on their reliability or guidelines for their use in rehabilitation. The authors investigated the state of the literature concerning the use of inertial sensors for gait analysis in both healthy and pathological adults comparing traditional systems. Furthermore, trying to define directions for clinicians.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION

In accordance with the PRISMA statement, authors searched in PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus all paper published from January 1st, 2005 until December 31st, 2017. They included both healthy and pathological adults' subjects as population, wearable or inertial sensors used for gait analysis and compared with classical gait analysis performed in a Motion Lab as intervention and comparison, gait parameters as outcomes. Considering the methodological quality, authors focused on: sample; description of the study; type of gait analysis used for comparison; type of sensor; sensor placement on the body; gait task requested.

EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS

From a total of 888 articles, 16 manuscripts were selected and 7 of them were considered for meta-analysis for different gait parameters. Demographic data, tested devices, reference systems, test procedures and outcomes were analyzed.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results show a good agreement between inertial sensors and classical gait analysis for some gait parameters, supporting their use as a solution for capturing kinematic information over an extended space and time and even outside a laboratory in real-life conditions. Authors can support the use of portable inertial sensors for a practical gait analysis in clinical setting with good reliability. It will then be the experience of the clinician to direct the decision-making process.

Assessing a low-cost accelerometer-based technique to estimate spatial gait parameters of lower-limb prosthesis users

BACKGROUND AND AIM

Inexpensive methods for characterizing lower-limb prosthetic gait allow clinicians to monitor gait quality. This study assessed an established method for estimating step length using a low-cost accelerometer to estimate distance walked in lower-limb prosthesis users and explore the use of subject-specific correction factors.

TECHNIQUE

A three-axis accelerometer was attached to participants using straps. Validity and test-retest reliability of step length was assessed in able-bodied individuals using a motion capture system. Validity of distance walked was assessed with lower-limb prosthesis users. A regression equation was developed for prosthesis users to estimate a correction factor that minimized error.

DISCUSSION

The system demonstrated excellent reliability and minimal mean error for both participant groups, but subject-specific correction factors did not provide substantial benefit. Estimate variability was high, suggesting the need for further refinement. Estimating distance walked and step length from low-cost accelerometers may be a valid, clinically accessible method for characterizing prosthetic gait.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

The use of a low-cost accelerometer may provide valid means for estimating step length and distance walked of lower-limb prosthesis users in a clinical environment for monitoring patient outcomes.

Preliminary study of novel, timed walking tests for children with spina bifida or cerebral palsy

Objective:

Walking assessment is an important aspect of rehabilitation practice; yet, clinicians have few psychometrically sound options for evaluating walking in highly ambulatory children. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of two new measures of walking function—the Obstacles and Curb tests—relative to the 10-Meter Walk test and Timed Up and Go test in children with spina bifida or cerebral palsy.

Methods:

A total of 16 ambulatory children with spina bifida (n=9) or cerebral palsy (n=7) (9 boys; mean age 7years, 7months; standard deviation 3years, 4months) and 16 age- and gender-matched typically developing children participated. Children completed the walking tests, at both self-selected and fast speeds, twice. To evaluate discriminative validity, scores were compared between typically developing and spina bifida/cerebral palsy groups. Within the spina bifida/cerebral palsy group, inter-test correlations evaluated convergent validity and intraclass correlation coefficients evaluated within-session test–retest reliability.

Results:

At fast speeds, all tests showed discriminative validity (p<0.006 for typically developing and spina bifida/cerebral palsy comparisons) and convergent validity (rho=0.81–0.90, p⩽0.001, for inter-test correlations). At self-selected speeds, only the Obstacles test discriminated between groups (p=0.001). Moderately strong correlations (rho=0.73–0.78, p⩽0.001) were seen between the 10-Meter Walk test, Curb test, and Timed Up and Go test. Intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.81 to 0.97, with higher test–retest reliability for tests performed at fast speeds rather than self-selected speeds.

Conclusion:

The Obstacles and Curb tests are promising measures for assessing walking in this population. Performing tests at fast walking speeds may improve their validity and test–retest reliability for children with spina bifida/cerebral palsy.

Locomotor Performance During Rehabilitation of People With Lower Limb Amputation and Prosthetic Nonuse 12 Months After Discharge

BACKGROUND

It is recognized that multifactorial assessments are needed to evaluate balance and locomotor function in people with lower limb amputation. There is no consensus on whether a single screening tool could be used to identify future issues with locomotion or prosthetic use.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to determine whether different tests of locomotor performance during rehabilitation were associated with significantly greater risk of prosthetic abandonment at 12 months postdischarge.

DESIGN

This was a retrospective cohort study.

METHOD

Data for descriptive variables and locomotor tests (ie, 10-Meter Walk Test [10MWT], Timed "Up & Go" Test [TUGT], Six-Minute Walk Test [6MWT], and Four Square Step Test [FSST]) were abstracted from the medical records of 201 consecutive participants with lower limb amputation. Participants were interviewed and classified as prosthetic users or nonusers at 12 months postdischarge. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to analyze whether there were differences in locomotor performance. Receiver operating characteristic curves were generated to determine performance thresholds, and relative risk (RR) was calculated for nonuse.

RESULTS

At 12 months postdischarge, 18% (n=36) of the participants had become prosthetic nonusers. Performance thresholds, area under the curve (AUC), and RR of nonuse (95% confidence intervals [CI]) were: for the 10MWT, if walking speed was ≤0.44 ms(-1) (AUC=0.743), RR of nonuse=2.76 (95% CI=1.83, 3.79; P<.0001); for the TUGT, if time was ≥21.4 seconds (AUC=0.796), RR of nonuse=3.17 (95% CI=2.17, 4.14; P<.0001); for the 6MWT, if distance was ≤191 m (AUC=0.788), RR of nonuse=2.84, (95% CI=2.05, 3.48; P<.0001); and for the FSST, if time was ≥36.6 seconds (AUC=0.762), RR of nonuse=2.76 (95% CI=1.99, 3.39; P<.0001).

LIMITATIONS

Missing data, potential recall bias, and assessment times that varied were limitations of the study.

CONCLUSIONS

Locomotor performance during rehabilitation may predict future risk of prosthetic nonuse. It may be implied that the 10MWT has the greatest clinical utility as a single screening tool for prosthetic nonuse, given the highest proportion of participants were able to perform this test early in rehabilitation. However, as locomotor skills improve, other tests (in particular, the 6MWT) have specific clinical utility. To fully enable implementation of these locomotor criteria for prosthetic nonuse into clinical practice, validation is warranted.

You've heard about outcome measures, so how do you use them? Integrating clinically relevant outcome measures in orthotic management of stroke

In today's healthcare environment it is increasingly important to be able to quantify the amount of change associated with a given intervention; this can be accomplished using one or more appropriate outcome measures. However, the selection and integration of outcome measures within clinical practice requires careful consideration. This includes identification of the measure construct which can be assisted by the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health; selection of outcome measures based on need, appropriateness and feasibility; and careful use in regular clinical practice including data collection, analysis and re-assessment of the process. We describe this process, focusing on orthotic management of stroke, in particular the improvement of mobility as a common goal. Clinical relevance The growing emphasis on improved documentation of patient care and outcomes requires that clinicians integrate clinically relevant outcome measures into their practice. We suggest a process to assist clinicians integrate outcome measures into clinical practice with a particular emphasis on the orthotic management of stroke.