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Gait Symmetry Measures and Their Relevance to Gait Retraining

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Abstract

A symmetric gait pattern for humans is characterized by the almost identical behavior of bilateral limbs during a gait cycle. This symmetry is usually compromised in pathological gait due to the presence of pain, or as a consequence of an underlying impairment. Over time, the persistence of an asymmetric gait pattern may predispose patients to the development of other musculoskeletal problems. Based on this premise, research has been conducted to confirm the existence of gait asymmetry in various clinical populations and to assess the efficacy and feasibility of gait retraining programs to restore gait symmetry. This chapter explores conventional measures of symmetry, discussing their strengths and limitations in the context of intersession agreement and reliability, sensitivity to changing levels of gait symmetry, and relevance for gait retraining.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Biomecânica e Morfologia Funcional, CIPER, Faculdade de Motricidade Humana, Universidade de Lisboa, Estrada da Costa, 1499-002, Cruz Quebrada, Dafundo, Portugal

    Silvia Cabral

Authors
  1. Silvia Cabral
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Silvia Cabral .

Section Editor information

  1. Institut for Biomechanics und Orthopedic, German Sport University Cologne, Cologne, Germany

    Gert-Peter Brüggemann

  2. Department of Computer Science, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA

    Zhigang Deng

  3. McIntosh Consultancy and Research, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

    Andrew S. McIntosh

  4. Wilmington, Delaware, USA

    Freeman Miller

  5. C-Motion Inc., Germantown, USA

    W. Scott Selbie

  6. Has-Motion Inc., 27 Sydenham Street, K7L3G8, Kingston, ON, Canada

    William Scott Selbie

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Cabral, S. (2018). Gait Symmetry Measures and Their Relevance to Gait Retraining. In: Handbook of Human Motion. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14418-4_201

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