Eric Morel1, Gilles Allali2, Magali Laidet3, Frédéric Assal4, Patrice H Lalive4, Stéphane Armand5. 1. Willy Taillard Laboratory of Kinesiology, University Geneva Hospitals and Geneva University, Geneva, Switzerland. 2. Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Division of Neurology, University Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University, Bronx, New York, USA. 3. Willy Taillard Laboratory of Kinesiology, University Geneva Hospitals and Geneva University, Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Division of Neurology, University Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland. 4. Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Division of Neurology, University Geneva Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland. 5. Willy Taillard Laboratory of Kinesiology, University Geneva Hospitals and Geneva University, Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address: stephane.armand@hcuge.ch.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Gait abnormalities are subtle in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with low disability and need to be better determined. As a biomechanical approach, the Gait Profile Score (GPS) is used to assess gait quality by combining nine gait kinematic variables in one single value. This study aims i) to establish if the GPS can detect gait impairments and ii) to compare GPS with discrete spatiotemporal and kinematic parameters in low-disabled MS patients. METHOD: Thirty-four relapsing-remitting MS patients with an Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score ≤2 (mean age 36.32±8.72 years; 12 men, 22 women; mean EDSS 1.19±0.8) and twenty-two healthy controls (mean age 36.85±7.87 years; 6 men, 16 women) matched for age, weight, height, body mass index and gender underwent an instrumented gait analysis. RESULTS: No significant difference in GPS values and in spatiotemporal parameters was found between patients and controls. However patients showed a significant alteration at the ankle and pelvis level. CONCLUSION: GPS fails to identify gait abnormalities in low-disabled MS patients, although kinematic analysis revealed subtle gait alterations. Future studies should investigate other methods to assess gait impairments with a gait score in low-disabled MS patients. Copyright Â
BACKGROUND:Gait abnormalities are subtle in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with low disability and need to be better determined. As a biomechanical approach, the Gait Profile Score (GPS) is used to assess gait quality by combining nine gait kinematic variables in one single value. This study aims i) to establish if the GPS can detect gait impairments and ii) to compare GPS with discrete spatiotemporal and kinematic parameters in low-disabled MS patients. METHOD: Thirty-four relapsing-remitting MS patients with an Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score ≤2 (mean age 36.32±8.72 years; 12 men, 22 women; mean EDSS 1.19±0.8) and twenty-two healthy controls (mean age 36.85±7.87 years; 6 men, 16 women) matched for age, weight, height, body mass index and gender underwent an instrumented gait analysis. RESULTS: No significant difference in GPS values and in spatiotemporal parameters was found between patients and controls. However patients showed a significant alteration at the ankle and pelvis level. CONCLUSION: GPS fails to identify gait abnormalities in low-disabled MS patients, although kinematic analysis revealed subtle gait alterations. Future studies should investigate other methods to assess gait impairments with a gait score in low-disabled MS patients. Copyright Â