Coordination index - A method for the assessment of the inter-joint coordination during gait.

BACKGROUND

The gait analysis is a relatively commonly used tool for evaluating the functional deficits of various groups of patients, regardless of the origin of these deficits, but is especially common in patients with neurological deficits. One of the problems they encounter is disrupted coordination. One of the methods to asses it is cyclogram, or angle-angle plot.

RESEARCH QUESTION: Could cyclogram index, based on cyclograms for lower limbs contribute to understanding of the disrupted coordination in neurological patients?

METHODS

This paper presents the coordination index, which is based on the perimeters of four cyclograms: hip/pelvis, knee/hip and ankle/knee in the sagittal plane and hip/pelvis in the frontal plane. Data extracted from retrospective gait analyses of patients with spastic diplegia cerebral palsy, dystrophy and Guillain-Barre syndrome were used to calculate cyclograms, coordination index and gait indices: Gillette Gait Index (GGI), Gait Deviation Index (GDI) and Gait Profile Score (GPS).

RESULTS

The main finding of this paper is the independence of the new coordination index from commonly used indices: GGI, GDI and GPS. A discriminant analysis, in which the grouping variable was the name of the disease, revealed that cyclogram perimeters and coordination index were statistically significant predictors.

SIGNIFICANCE: Coordination index could be used as additional measure assessing the disrupted coordination in patients.

CONCLUSION

This paper shows the potential usefulness of the proposed method in clinical application, especially in the long-term changes induced by the various treatment methods.