Evaluation of an instrumented walkway for measurement of the kinematic parameters of gait

The purpose of this study was to compare kinematic gait parameters measured with an instrumented walkway system (GAITRite(R)) and a video-based system (peak performance motus 3.1(R)). Subjects walked across a GAITRite mat with embedded pressure sensors. Reflective markers were attached to subjects' shoes and video capture was simultaneously performed during each trial. Video data were then digitized manually using peak software. Correlation coefficients for all parameters measured with both systems were high ( greater than or equal to 0.94). Significant differences between systems were found with analysis of variance (ANOVA) for two parameters, step length and stride velocity (P = 0.003, 0.0002). The results of this study indicate that the instrumented walkway gave comparable results for temporal parameters but further investigation is needed to evaluate the fidelity of its spatial performance. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.