Design and validation of a multi-task, multi-context protocol for real-world gait simulation

Scott, Kirsty, Bonci, Tecla, Salis, Francesca, Alcock, Lisa, Buckley, Ellen, Gazit, Eran, Hansen, Clint, Schwickert, Lars, Aminian, Kamiar, Bertuletti, Stefano, Caruso, Marco, Chiari, Lorenzo, Sharrack, Basil, Maetzler, Walter, Becker, Clemens, Hausdorff, Jeffrey M., Vogiatzis, Ioannis, Brown, Philip, Del Din, Silvia, Eskofier, Björn, Paraschiv-Ionescu, Anisoara, Keogh, Alison, Kirk, Cameron, Kluge, Felix, Micó-Amigo, Encarna M., Mueller, Arne, Neatrour, Isabel, Niessen, Martijn, Palmerini, Luca, Sillen, Henrik, Singleton, David, Ullrich, Martin, Vereijken, Beatrix, Froehlich, Marcel, Brittain, Gavin, Caulfield, Brian, Koch, Sarah, Carsin, Anne-Elie, Garcia-Aymerich, Judith, Kuederle, Arne, Yarnall, Alison, Rochester, Lynn, Cereatti, Andrea and Mazzà, Claudia (2022) Design and validation of a multi-task, multi-context protocol for real-world gait simulation. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, 19 (1). p. 141. ISSN 1743-0003

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12984-022-01116-1

Abstract

Background: Measuring mobility in daily life entails dealing with confounding factors arising from multiple sources, including pathological characteristics, patient specific walking strategies, environment/context, and purpose of the task. The primary aim of this study is to propose and validate a protocol for simulating real-world gait accounting for all these factors within a single set of observations, while ensuring minimisation of participant burden and safety. Methods: The protocol included eight motor tasks at varying speed, incline/steps, surface, path shape, cognitive demand, and included postures that may abruptly alter the participants’ strategy of walking. It was deployed in a convenience sample of 108 participants recruited from six cohorts that included older healthy adults (HA) and participants with potentially altered mobility due to Parkinson’s disease (PD), multiple sclerosis (MS), proximal femoral fracture (PFF), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or congestive heart failure (CHF). A novelty introduced in the protocol was the tiered approach to increase difficulty both within the same task (e.g., by allowing use of aids or armrests) and across tasks. Results: The protocol proved to be safe and feasible (all participants could complete it and no adverse events were recorded) and the addition of the more complex tasks allowed a much greater spread in walking speeds to be achieved compared to standard straight walking trials. Furthermore, it allowed a representation of a variety of daily life relevant mobility aspects and can therefore be used for the validation of monitoring devices used in real life. Conclusions: The protocol allowed for measuring gait in a variety of pathological conditions suggests that it can also be used to detect changes in gait due to, for example, the onset or progression of a disease, or due to therapy. Trial registration: ISRCTN—12246987.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Funding iInformation: This work was supported by the Mobilise-D project that has received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No. 820820. This JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). This study was also supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) through the Sheffield Biomedical Research Centre (BRC, Grant Number IS-BRC-1215–20017). AY, LA, LR and SDD are also supported by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Newcastle Biomedical Research Center (BRC) based at Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Newcastle University. AY, LA, LR and SDD are also supported by the NIHR/Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility (CRF) infrastructure at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. ISGlobal acknowledges support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the “Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa 2019–2023” Program (CEX2018-000806-S), and from the Generalitat de Catalunya through the CERCA Program. All opinions are those of the authors and not the funders. Neither IMI nor the European Union, EFPIA, NHS, NIHR, DHSC or any Associated Partners are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained herein.
Uncontrolled Keywords: Digital mobility outcomes, Technical validation, Wearable sensors, Neurological diseases, Mobility monitoring
Subjects: C600 Sports Science
Department: Faculties > Health and Life Sciences > Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation
Depositing User: Elena Carlaw
Date Deposited: 05 Jan 2023 09:20
Last Modified: 05 Jan 2023 09:30
URI: https://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/51058

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