Center of mass position relative to the ankle during walking: a clinically feasible detection method for gait imbalance.

This study examined the effectiveness of using the center of mass (COM)-Ankle inclination angles to identify elderly individuals with gait imbalance. Whole body motions of 12 elderly patients with gait imbalance and 12 healthy elderly controls were captured with an 8-camera motion analysis system. Inclination angles between the line formed between the COM and lateral ankle marker or by the COM and center of pressure (COP) and their respective vertical lines were computed for each frame during the single stance phase of gait. Similar to the results for COM-COP angles, the results showed that COM-Ankle inclination angles during the single stance phase could successfully distinguish elderly individuals with gait imbalance from healthy elderly adults. Examination of the COM-Ankle inclination angles could be an alternative assessment to clinical populations who possess inconsistent gait that hinder the calculation of the COM-COP inclination angles. Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.