title: Does gait analysis change clinical decision-making in poststroke patients? Results from a pragmatic prospective observational study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Gait analysis (GA) was demonstrated to change presurgical planning and improve gait outcomes in children with Cerebral Palsy. GA is often used also to assess walking capability of poststroke subjects, although its influence in the clinical management of these patients has not yet been established.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the impact of GA on clinical decision-making in adult chronic poststroke patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pragmatic prospective observational study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Rehabilitation hospital, both outpatients and inpatients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-nine patients (age: 53.3±14.5 years) who had had a cerebrovascular accident 35.2±26.4 months before and were referred to the gait analysis service.
  
  
  METHODS
  Recommendations of therapeutic treatments before and after the analysis of GA data were compared, together with the confidence level of recommendations on a 10-point scale. Frequency of changes of post-GA vs pre-GA recommendations were computed for each recommendation type: surgery, botulinum toxin (BT), orthotic management and physiotherapy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Based on the analysis of GA data, 71% of poststroke subjects had their treatment planning changed in some components. Indeed, 73% of patients with indications for surgery had their surgical planning changed; 81%, 37% and 32% had, respectively, their BT, orthotic and physiotherapy planning changed. Confidence level of recommendations increased significantly after GA, in both the whole group of patients (from 6.7±1.4 to 8.7±0.6, P<0.01) and the subgroup whose recommendations had not changed (7.0±1.5 vs. 8.8±0.4, P<0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  GA significantly influences the therapeutic planning and reinforces decision-making for chronic poststroke patients. Further work should be done to better translate GA results into indications for specific physiotherapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The use of GA as a tool to better define the rehabilitation planning in post-stroke patients should be fostered, particularly when surgery or botulinum toxin are considered and/or the prescription of orthoses is hypothesised.
authors.affiliation: IRCCS Don Carlo Gnocchi Foundation, Milan, Italy - mferrarin@dongnocchi.it.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ferrarin
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rabuffetti
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bacchini
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Casiraghi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Castagna
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pizzi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Montesano
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001905:Botulinum Toxins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000066491:Clinical Decision-Making / Q000379:methods*; D004576:Electromyography / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D020233:Gait Disorders, Neurologic / Q000209:etiology / Q000534:rehabilitation* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009407:Nerve Block; D009498:Neurotoxins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009989:Orthotic Devices; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012046:Rehabilitation / Q000379:methods*; D012047:Rehabilitation Centers; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative; D013673:Technology Assessment, Biomedical / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D009498:Neurotoxins; D001905:Botulinum Toxins