Reliability of gait in multiple sclerosis over 6 months.

Gait impairment is ubiquitous in multiple sclerosis (MS) and is often characterized by alterations in spatiotemporal parameters of gait. There is limited information concerning reliability of spatiotemporal gait parameters over clinical timescales (e.g. 6 months). The current report provides novel evidence that gait parameters of 74 ambulatory persons with MS with mild-to-moderate disability are reliable over 6-months (ICC's for overall sample range from 0.56 to 0.91) in the absence of any intervention above and beyond standard care. Such data can inform clinical decision-making and power analyses for designing RCTs (i.e., sample size estimates) involving persons with MS.
(Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)