Research Paper Title

Agreement Between the OptoGait and Instrumented Treadmill System for the Quantification of Spatiotemporal Treadmill Running Parameters.

Background

The measurement of spatiotemporal gait parameters is commonly utilized to assess gait in healthy and injured individuals.

The OptoGait system is a portable system and can be mounted to a treadmill to collect data in a clinical, training, or research setting.

The purpose of this method comparison study was to examine the agreement of spatiotemporal gait parameters calculated by the OptoGait compared to an instrumented treadmill system during running.

Methods

Thirty healthy runners ran on an instrumented treadmill with the OptoGait 1-m system mounted along the treadmill platform.

Spatiotemporal running variables of step rate, step length, and contact time were calculated during the final minute of treadmill running.

The level of agreement between the OptoGait and treadmill was analysed using intraclass correlation coefficients [ICC (2,3)] for step rate, step length, and contact time.

Results

Step rate and step length demonstrated excellent agreement. Contact time demonstrated good agreement. Intraclass correlation coefficients for spatiotemporal parameters ranged from 0.83 to 0.99.

Conclusions

The OptoGait demonstrated good to excellent agreement in the evaluation of running step rate, step length, and contact time and should be considered for use in clinical, training, or research settings.

Reference

Weart, A.N., Miller, E.M., Freisinger, G.M., Johnson, M.R. & Goss, D.L. (2020) Agreement Between the OptoGait and Instrumented Treadmill System for the Quantification of Spatiotemporal Treadmill Running Parameters. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living. doi: 10.3389/fspor.2020.571385. eCollection 2020.