Electronic Health Reporter

Gait is now recognized as the 6th vital sign and serves as a valuable indicator of health and mobility status. Previously, clinically-validated gait analysis technology was only available in lab settings, making it costly and inaccessible. With the development of new digital health technologies, providers can now collect objective gait and motion analysis data about their patients for heightened insight that enables them to better tailor treatment and provide proactive intervention when necessary.

What is there to learn from your patient’s gait analysis?

No two people walk the same way, which is why gait analysis has become a particularly useful tool for better understanding individual patients from a more holistic lens. Mobility status directly impacts how a person can interact with their environment and live a fulfilled life, which is why understanding and addressing functional mobility concerns is imperative for healthcare providers. Gait analysis is applicable across multiple healthcare sectors and can be used to:

• Identify changes in mobility status and functional declines
• Perform multi-faceted, thorough fall risk assessments
• Establish a preoperative baseline and track postoperative progress
• Understand the impact of disease on mobility
• Highlight intervention efficacy objectively
• Assess and predict risk for frailty
• Leverage data for remote therapeutic monitoring (RTM)

Traditionally, objective gait analysis has only been performed in lab settings with expensive equipment. Observational gait analysis is more commonly used in clinical practice due to the lack of access to gait analysis technology. While observational analysis done by a trained professional can reveal important mobility data, it is difficult to quantify and standardize given the subjective nature.

New technology makes gait analysis more accessible than ever

OneStep’s innovative digital health technology leverages the sensors in smartphones to accurately capture and analyze more than 40 gait parameters and standardized functional mobility assessments. OneStep’s gait analysis has been validated against 4 gold-standard labs in leading medical centers^4,5 and empowers providers with a convenient way to monitor a patient’s gait and mobility both in the clinic and during real-life circumstances with background analysis – for the most accurate gait analysis data collected over multiple points in time and a true window into the everyday function.

OneStep’s technology is also able to detect changes in gait analysis trends correlated with an increased risk for falls. Providers receive automatic notifications of these changes, enabling them to intervene proactively. Leading providers across the US are leveraging OneStep to gain unprecedented patient insight surrounding gait and functional mobility, helping them enhance clinical decision-making and drive patient outcomes.

References:

¹Walking speed: the functional vital sign

²Association of Dual Decline in Cognition and Gait Speed With Risk of Dementia in Older Adults

³Usual gait speed is associated with frailty status, institutionalization, and mortality in community-dwelling rural older adults: a longitudinal analysis of the Aging Study of Pyeongchang Rural Area

⁴Gait Analysis Using Accelerometry Data from a Single Smartphone: Agreement and Consistency between a Smartphone Application and Gold-Standard Gait Analysis System

⁵Smartphone-based inertial sensors technology – Validation of a new application to measure spatiotemporal gait metrics