ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 dealt with ‘‘low-tech’’ approaches to evaluation of gait disorders. This chapter will focus on the ‘‘high-tech’’ approach, the clinical gait laboratory, and its place in the evaluation process. A pioneer in clinical gait analysis, Gordon Rose (1), confronted the issue of what constituted gait analysis 20 years ago. He suggested that the term ‘‘gait assessment’’ should be applied to the whole process of evaluating a patient’s gait. The term ‘‘gait analysis,’’ he suggested, should be reserved for the high-tech component of gait evaluation. In the diagnostic triad of history, physical examination, and laboratory tests, gait analysis is a laboratory test. Like all laboratory tests, gait analysis should provide answers to specific questions. This chapter will explain the technology used in gait analysis, the testing a patient undergoes, the parameters measured and their interpretation. We will then survey the application of gait analysis in various pathologies affecting gait. Finally, we will explore the potential for expanding the clinical relevance of the gait laboratory. While there is interest in applying the technology to evaluating human movements other than gait, gait analysis will be the focus of this discussion.
