Reliability and accuracy of observational gait analysis

Abstract

[Purpose] The object of this study was to clarify the reliability and accuracy of observational ability in gait analysis. [Subjects] The subjects were 24 second year and 26 fourth year physical therapy training school students, and 20 physical therapists. [Methods] Changes in gait of healthy persons due to differences in cadence and gaits imitating disabilities were observed on video, and we asked the subjects to identify the three phases of the gait cycle through angular movements of the joints. We also asked them to guess the causes of the gaits imitating disabilities. [Results] Observation of the hip extension angle in the terminal stance was the easiest, and observation of the knee flexion angle in the initializing phase was difficult, a tendency that was apparent across all 3 groups of subjects. The physical therapists focused on the disabilities and accurately listed their causes. [Conclusion] It is clear that the effect of experience is not the ability to observe and discriminate between joint movements, rather it is the ability to recognize them and judge them as deviated movements, and identify the causes of them.