Article

The aim of this prospective study was to assess whether accelerometry-based gait
analysis is associated with the incidence of falls among individuals who are
ambulatory and recently had a fracture, and to compare the ability to
discriminate body function and structure and activity measures.
A total of 100
patients who fulfilled our inclusion criteria were enrolled.
At hospital
discharge, the following outcomes were assessed: timed-up-and-go test,
five-times-sit-to-stand test, one-leg standing test, 5-m gait test, and gait
analysis using a wireless three-axis accelerometer. Root mean square (RMS) and
autocorrelation (AC) values were analyzed on the basis of the acceleration
waveform. Follow-up assessment of falls and subsequent fractures was performed 12
months after the fracture. Eighty-five percent of the participants completed the
follow-up at 12 months. During the 12 months of follow-up, 61 falls were reported
by 34 patients (31 women, three men), for a fall rate of 40.0% (34/85). The fall
group had significantly poorer body function and structure and activity measures
compared with the no-fall group. In accelerometry-based gait analysis, RMS and AC
in the vertical axis and RMS in the anteroposterior axis were significantly lower
in the fall group compared with the no-fall group. Multivariate logistic
regression analysis showed that only AC in the vertical axis was a significant
predictor of falls. This finding suggests that trunk acceleration AC in the
vertical axis showed good discriminative ability for predicting the incidence of
falls among patients who are ambulatory and recently had a fracture.

Langue : ANGLAIS