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The main purpose of this study is to characterize lower limb joint kinematics during gait in obese individuals by analyzing inter-limb symmetry and angular trends of lower limb joints during walking. To this purpose, 26 obese individuals (mean age 28.5 years) and 26 normal-weight age- and sex-matched were tested using 3D gait analysis. Raw kinematic data were processed to derive joint-specific angle trends and angle-angle diagrams (synchronized cyclograms) which were characterized in terms of area, orientation and trend symmetry parameters. The results show that obese individuals exhibit a kinematic pattern which significantly differs from those of normal weight especially in the stance phase. In terms of inter-limb symmetry, higher values were found in obese individuals for all the considered parameters, even though the statistical significance was detected only in the case of trend symmetry index at ankle joint. The described alterations of gait kinematics in the obese individuals and especially the results on gait asymmetry are important, because the cyclic uneven movement repeated for hours daily can involve asymmetrical spine loading and cause lumbar pain and could be dangerous for overweight individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of the present study was to assess the effects of foot drop stimulators (FDS) in individuals with stroke by means of spatio-temporal and step-to-step symmetry, harmonic ratio (HR), parameters obtained from trunk accelerations acquired using a wearable inertial sensor. Thirty-two patients (age: 56.84 ± 9.10 years; 68.8% male) underwent an instrumental gait analysis, performed using a wearable inertial sensor before and a day after the 10-session treatment (PRE and POST sessions). The treatment consisted of 10 sessions of 20 min of walking on a treadmill while using the FDS device. The spatio-temporal parameters and the HR in the anteroposterior (AP), vertical (V), and mediolateral (ML) directions were computed from trunk acceleration data. The results showed that time had a significant effect on the spatio-temporal parameters; in particular, a significant increase in gait speed was detected. Regarding the HRs, the HR in the ML direction was found to have significantly increased (+20%), while those in the AP and V directions decreased (approximately 13%). Even if further studies are necessary, from these results, the HR seems to provide additional information on gait patterns with respect to the traditional spatio-temporal parameters, advancing the assessment of the effects of FDS devices in stroke patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of the present study was to compare the smoothness of gait in older adults with and without cognitive impairments, using the harmonic ratio (HR), a metric derived from trunk accelerations. Ninety older adults aged over 65 (age: 78.9 ± 4.8 years; 62% female) underwent instrumental gait analysis, performed using a wearable inertial sensor and cognitive assessment with the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination Revised (ACE-R). They were stratified into three groups based on their MMSE performance: healthy controls (HC), early and advanced cognitive decline (ECD, ACD). The spatio-temporal and smoothness of gait parameters, the latter expressed through HR in anteroposterior (AP), vertical (V) and mediolateral (ML) directions, were derived from trunk acceleration data. The existence of a relationship between gait parameters and degree of cognitive impairment was also explored. The results show that individuals with ECD and ACD exhibited significantly slower speed and shorter stride length, as well as reduced values of HR in the AP and V directions compared to HC, while no significant differences were found between ECD and ACD in any of the investigated parameters. Gait speed, stride length and HR in all directions were found to be moderately correlated with both MMSE and ACE-R scores. Such findings suggest that, in addition to the known changes in gait speed and stride length, important reductions in smoothness of gait are likely to occur in older adults, owing to early/prodromal stages of cognitive impairment. Given the peculiar nature of these metrics, which refers to overall body stability during gait, the calculation of HR may result in being useful in improving the characterization of gait patterns in older adults with cognitive impairments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abnormal excess or lack of body mass can influence gait patterns, but in some cases such differences are subtle and not easy to detect, even with quantitative techniques for movement analysis. In these situations, the study of trunk accelerations may represent an effective way to detecting gait anomalies in terms of symmetry through the calculation of Harmonic Ratio (HR), a parameter obtained by processing trunk accelerations in the frequency domain. In the present study we used this technique to assess the existence of differences in HR during gait in a cohort of 75 healthy children and early adolescents (aged 7–14 years) stratified into 3 equally-sized age and gender-matched groups (Underweight: UW; Normal Weight: NW; Overweight: OW). The accelerometric signal, acquired using a single wearable inertial sensor, was processed to calculate stride length, speed, cadence and HR in antero-posterior, vertical and medio-lateral directions. No differences in spatio-temporal parameters were found among groups, while the HR in the medio-lateral direction was found significantly lower in UW children, while OW exhibited the highest values. On the basis of the results obtained, HR appears capable of discriminating gait symmetry in children with different body mass even when conventional gait parameters are unchanged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]