Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 27, 2026
Video Movement Analysis Using Smartphones (ViMAS): A Pilot Study
Published on: March 14, 2017
Identifying patterns of psychogenic gait by video-recording
Anika Aakerøy Jordbru1, Liv Marit Smedstad, Vegard Pihl Moen
1Research Department, Vestfold Hospital Trust, Clinic Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Stavern, Norway. Anika.Jordbru@rehabilitering.net
Objectives:
Psychogenic gait is common in patients with medically unexplained neurological symptoms and provides significant challenges to healthcare providers. Clinicians may arrive at a correct diagnosis earlier if distinctive positive signs are identified and acknowledged. This study aims to offer a tool for identifying patterns of psychogenic gait based on positive signs in clinical settings.
Design:
A video study with assessment of inter-rater reliability.
Patients:
Thirty consecutive patients diagnosed with psychogenic gait disturbance by neurologist before inclusion.
Methods:
In a gait laboratory patients were first categorized into 3 categories by 2 of the authors. Another rater was given both oral and written guidance and the next 3 raters only written information. Inter-rater reliability was estimated between the first and the 4 other ratings.
Results:
The main finding was that psychogenic gait could be categorized into 3 categories. These were: limping of 1 leg, limping of 2 legs; and truncal imbalance. Inter-rater reliability of the classification in the various categories was high.
Conclusion:
The present study provides the clinician with 3 well-described patterns to examine for if a psychogenic gait disorder is suspected, thereby simplifying detection.
