Validity and reliability of a commercial wearable sensor system for measuring spatiotemporal gait parameters in a post-stroke population: the effects of walking speed and asymmetry

Abstract

Abstract Objective. Commercial wearable sensor systems are a promising alternative to costly laboratory equipment for clinical gait evaluation, but their accuracy for individuals with gait impairments is not well established. Therefore, we investigated the validity and reliability of the APDM Opal wearable sensor system to measure spatiotemporal gait parameters for healthy controls and individuals with chronic stroke. Approach. Participants completed the 10 m walk test over an instrumented mat three times in different speed conditions. We compared performance of Opal sensors to the mat across different walking speeds and levels of step length asymmetry in the two populations. Main results. Gait speed and stride length measures achieved excellent reliability, though they were systematically underestimated by 0.11 m s−1 and 0.12 m, respectively. The stride and step time measures also achieved excellent reliability, with no significant errors (median absolute percentage error <6.00%, p> 0.05). Gait phase duration measures achieved moderate-to-excellent reliability, with relative errors ranging from 4.13%–21.59%. Across gait parameters, the relative error decreased by 0.57%–9.66% when walking faster than 1.30 m s−1; similar reductions occurred for step length symmetry indices lower than 0.10. Significance. This study supports the general use of Opal wearable sensors to obtain quantitative measures of post-stroke gait impairment. These measures should be interpreted cautiously for individuals with moderate-severe asymmetry or walking speeds slower than 0.80 m s−1.