GAIT MEASUREMENT METHODS: SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND COMPARATIVE STUDIES

Abstract

Gait analysis is one of the highly focused research areas inviting attention of academicians and practitioners. Being a prominent analytical tool to detect the abnormalities and onset of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), abundant literature is published in this area. Though a large number of gait analysis methods (GMSs) for motion analysis are available in the literature, very few studies are available to showcase the comparative analysis and applicability of various techniques. This study seeks to provide useful recapitulation of various gait measurement methods and interrogates the relative prevalence of various GMS based on the applications by various researchers. The paper summarizes the findings of a systematic review on gait measurement methods carried out using the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) methodology. Fifty-three research papers published during 1998–2021 were included for critical review. The categories of gait measure ment systems were further compared based on certain criteria such as portability, cost, and accuracy, and ranked using analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The review helped to encapsulate various aspects of gait analysis, especially, the types of tasks, types of gait parameters (GPs), and the gait measurement systems adopted. The study provides suitable mappings between these factors and offers comparison between the gait measurement systems using a specially devised capability index. It further provides useful guidelines for selecting the gait systems based on the criteria.