Factors Influencing the Clinical Adoption of Quantitative Gait Analysis Technologies for Adult Patient Populations With a Focus on Clinical Efficacy and Clinician Perspectives: Protocol for a Scoping Review

Abstract

Background Quantitative gait analysis can support clinical decision-making. These analyses can be performed using wearable sensors, nonwearable sensors, or a combination of both. However, to date, they have not been widely adopted in clinical practice. Technology adoption literature has highlighted the clinical efficacy of technology and the users’ perspective on the technology (eg, ease of use and usefulness) as some factors that influence their widespread adoption. Objective To assist with the clinical adoption of quantitative gait technologies, this scoping review will synthesize the literature on their clinical efficacy and clinician perspectives on their use in the clinical care of adult patient populations. Methods This scoping review protocol follows the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for scoping reviews. The review will include both peer-reviewed and gray literature (ie, conference abstracts) regarding the clinical efficacy of quantitative gait technologies and clinician perspectives on their use in the clinical care of adult patient populations. A comprehensive search strategy was created in MEDLINE (Ovid), which was then translated to 4 other databases: CENTRAL (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), CINAHL (EBSCO), and SPORTDiscus (EBSCO). The title and abstract screening, full-text review, and data extraction of relevant articles will be performed independently by 2 reviewers, with a third reviewer involved to support the resolution of conflicts. Data will be analyzed using content analysis and summarized in tabular and diagram formats. Results A search of relevant articles will be conducted in all 5 databases, and through hand-searching in Google Scholar and PEDro, including articles published up until December 2022. The research team plans to submit the final scoping review for publication in a peer-reviewed journal in 2023. Conclusions The findings of this review will be presented at clinical science conferences and published in a peer-reviewed journal. This review will inform future studies designed to develop, evaluate, or implement quantitative gait analysis technologies in clinical practice. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/39767