Abstract: Ankle fractures can cause significant functional impairment in the short and long term. In
recent years, gait analysis using inertial sensors has gained special relevance as a reliable measurement
system. This study aimed to evaluate the differences in spatiotemporal gait parameters and clinical-
functional measurements in patients with bimalleolar ankle fracture and healthy subjects, to study the
correlation between the different variables, and to analyze the test-retest reliability of a single inertial
sensor in our study population. Twenty-two subjects with bimalleolar ankle fracture six months after
surgery and eleven healthy subjects were included in the study. Spatiotemporal parameters were
analyzed with the G-WALK sensor. Functional scales and clinical measures were collected beforehand.
In the ankle fracture group, the main differences were obtained in bilateral parameters (effect size:
0.61 d 0.80). Between-group differences were found in cadence, speed, stride length, and stride
time (effect size: 1.61 d 1.82). Correlation was moderate (0.436 < r < 0.554) between spatiotemporal
parameters and clinical-functional measures, explaining up to 46% of gait performance. Test-retest
reliability scores were high to excellent (0.84 ICC 0.98), with the worst results in the gait phases.
Our study population presents evident clinicalfunctional impairments 6 months after surgery. The
G-WALK can be considered a reliable tool for clinical use in this population.
Authorship: Fernández-Gorgojo M., Salas-Gómez D., Sánchez-Juan P., Barbado D., Laguna-Bercero E., Pérez-Núñez M.I.,
Fuente: Sensors 2022, 22, 3050
Publisher: MDPI
Year of publication: 2022
No. of pages: 15
Publication type: Article
DOI: 10.3390/s22083050
ISSN: 1424-8220
Publication Url: https://doi.org/10.3390/s22083050