Spatial-temporal parameters of gait: reference data and a statistical method for normality assessment.

Spatial and temporal parameters of gait are of recognised clinical relevance in the assessment of motor pathologies, because they normally occur in established combinations which can be altered by pathologies. The data collected from 596 healthy subjects have been used to establish relationships among these parameters and a procedure to estimate deviation from normality based on the comparison between measured values and values estimated by exploiting these relationships. The applied multiple linear regression method (MLRM) was preliminarily validated by comparing its outputs with those of corresponding equations found in the literature, and by applying it to a control group of 12 healthy subjects.