Concurrent Validity of a Tri-axial Accelerometer for Measures of Gait Variability

INTRODUCTION Accelerometers are becoming an increasingly important tool in the study of human movement. Their ease and affordability, combined with the potential to collect large amounts of continuous data outside the laboratory setting makes them excellent tools for gait analysis. Research has demonstrated the effectiveness of a single tri-axial accelerometer in measuring mean spatiotemporal parameters of gait, but there is limited information on their ability to assess measures of gait variability [1]. While the clinical applications of gait variability are not yet fully understood, these measures are believed to be critical in understanding the motor control of gait [2]. Therefore, it is necessary to establish an effective method to measure gait variability with the tri-axial accelerometer for future gait analysis applications. The purpose of this study was to assess the concurrent validity of a tri-axial accelerometer in measuring mean spatiotemporal gait parameters and their variability, compared to a criterion footswitch device.