ABSTRACT
Clinical gait analysis is central to the evaluation of medical and therapy outcomes in people with neurological conditions. Despite the rapid evolution and availability of laboratory-based technologies to evaluate the kinematics and kinetics of gait (see Chapter 3), visual observation remains the most frequently used method of gait analysis in the clinical setting (1). To illustrate the utility of visual observation, in this chapter, we explore common forms of locomotor disturbance in people with neurological conditions. We focus on four common representative examples: cerebral palsy (CP), Parkinson’s disease (PD), Huntington’s disease (HD), and stroke, as well as the major factors taken into account during clinical gait analysis. Consideration is given to the pathogenesis of locomotor disorders and to the way in which their clinical presentation varies according to constraints afforded by the environment, task, attention, age, medication, and rehabilitation therapies. Some of the ways in which the accuracy of clinical gait analysis can be enhanced are presented, and the major gait deviations to target are discussed.
