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Updated: May 6, 2026
Clinical-oriented Three-dimensional Gait Analysis Method for Evaluating Gait Disorder
Published on: March 4, 2018
Assessment of gait deviation on the Babinski-Weill test in healthy Brazilians
Camila Souza Miranda1, Camila Piccirilli Stefani, Márcia Midori Morimoto
1Especialista em Fisioterapia Neurológica, Fisioterapeuta da FMUSP, São PauloSP, Brazil.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to validate a simple and reproducible method for assessing gait deviation on the Babinski-Weill test in a representative sample of healthy Brazilians.
Methods:
Gait deviations were measured in 75 individuals (median=30 years, 41 women) for forward, backwards, and Babinski-Weill steps. The test entailed blindfolded individuals walking 10 paces at a frequency of 1 Hz with deviations subsequently measured by a protractor.
Results:
Mean gait deviation forward was 0.53° with standard deviation (SD)=4.22 and backwards was 2.14° with SD=4.29. No significant difference in deviation was detected between genders (t test p=0.40 forward and p=0.77 backwards) or for age (ANOVA, p=0.33 forward and p=0.63 backwards). On the Babinski-Weill test, mean gait deviation was 5.26°; SD=16.32 in women and -3.11°; SD=12.41 in men, with no significant difference between genders (t test, p=0.056).
Discussion:
Defining normative gait patterns helps distinguish pathological states.
