Relationships among subjective patient-reported outcome, quality of life, and objective gait characteristics using wearable foot inertial-sensor assessment in foot-ankle patients

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to determine the relationships between subjective validated patient-reported outcomes and health-related quality of life, to objective gait characteristics in patients with foot-ankle conditions. Objective gait characteristics were obtained using a wearable foot inertial-sensor device as well as by assessing the relationships between spatiotemporal or gait parameters by analyzing the inter-metric correlations.

Methods: Fifty-two patients with foot-ankle conditions (37 women/15 men, aged 21-75 years) were included in this study. Clinical assessments, including evaluations of validated patient-reported outcomes using visual analog scale foot and ankle score, health-related quality of life using validated Short Form-36, and gait characteristics using a wearable foot inertial-sensor device, were performed and recorded for each patient.

Results: A significant negative correlation was observed between the physical component summary (PCS) and maximal cadence (r = - 0.308, P = 0.025). Significant positive correlations were noted between mean walking speed and mean cadence (r = 0.776, P < 0.001) and between maximal walking speed and mean step length (r = 0.498, P < 0.001). Significant negative correlations were found between the mean cadence and mean step length (r = - 0.491, P < 0.001) and between maximal cadence and mean step length (r = - 0.355, P = 0.009).

Conclusions: Cadence is an important objective spatiotemporal parameter to assess in foot and ankle patients as it relates well to outcome, with a significantly negatively correlation to subjectively reported PCS in health-related quality of life. Based on inter-metric relationships, an increased cadence might be used to maintain walking speed as a compensatory mechanism in patients with foot-ankle conditions.

Keywords: Foot and ankle pathology; Gait; Patient-reported outcome measures; Wearable electronic device.