Article

The Microsoft Kinect presents a simple, inexpensive, and portable
method of examining the independent components of the Timed Up and Go (TUG)
without any intrusion on the patient. Objective. This study examined the
reliability of these measures, and whether they improved prediction of
performance on common clinical tests. Methods. Thirty individuals with stroke
completed 4 clinical assessments, including the TUG, 10-m walk test (10MWT), Step
Test, and Functional Reach test on 2 testing occasions. The TUG was assessed
using the Kinect to determine 7 different functional components. Test-retest
reliability was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC),
redundancy using Spearman's correlation, and score prediction on the clinical
tests using multiple regression. Results. All Kinect-TUG variables possessed
excellent reliability (ICC(2,k) > 0.90) except trunk flexion angle (ICC = 0.73).
Trunk flexion angle and first step length were nonredundant with total TUG time.
When predicting 10MWT and Step Test scores, adding step length into regression
models comprising age and total TUG time improved model performance by 7% (P
<.01) and 6% (P =.03), respectively. Specifically, an interquartile range
increase in first step length (0.19 m) was associated with a 0.15 m/s faster gait
speed and 1.8 more repetitions on the Step Test. These effect sizes were
comparable to our minimal detectable change scores of 0.17 m/s for gait speed and
1.71 repetitions for the Step Test. Conclusions. Using the Kinect to
independently assess the multiple components of the TUG may provide reliable and
clinically useful information. This could enable efficient and information-rich
large-scale assessments of physical deficits following stroke.
CI - (c) The Author(s) 2014.

Langue : ANGLAIS