Gait assessment in clinical context: a systematic literature review

Abstract

Introduction: In clinical practice there is a need for instruments that are easy to use and affordable, but also, valid, reliable and from which clinical inferences are easy to make. This review aims to identify instruments for gait assessment that could easily be used in clinical practice and to characterize them in terms of psychometric properties and aspects of clinical interpretation. Methods: The search was conducted in 5 databases using combinations of different key words. A list of identified instruments that met the inclusion criteria was created and a second search conducted combining the name of the instrument with the words: “validity”, “reliability”, “responsiveness” and “change score”. Results: Fifteen instruments were included in this systematic review. Most of them showed adequate to excellent validity and reliability. Data regarding most aspects of clinical interpretation were missing. Conclusion: There is a need to study the identified instruments in terms of aspects of clinical interpretation and that validate them to Portuguese.