Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 27, 2026
05:23
Motor Dual-Tasks for Gait Analysis and Evaluation in Post-Stroke Patients
Published on: March 11, 2021
2.9K
Trunk-lower limb coordination pattern during gait in patients with ataxia
Pietro Caliandro1, Chiara Iacovelli2, Carmela Conte2
1Complex Operative Unit of Neurology, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, L.go F. Vito, 1-00168 Rome, Italy.
Gait & Posture
|July 7, 2017
Summary
Patients with ataxia exhibit impaired trunk-thigh coordination, showing chaotic movement patterns compared to healthy individuals. This coordination deficit correlates with the severity of ataxia, impacting gait and stability.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Biomechanics
- Movement Disorders
Background:
- Gait and stability impairments in ataxia are often linked to poor coordination between body segments.
- However, the specific coordination between the trunk and thigh in ataxic patients has not been previously investigated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate trunk-thigh coordination in patients with degenerative cerebellar ataxia compared to healthy controls.
- To correlate coordination measures with the clinical severity of ataxia using the SARA scale.
Main Methods:
- A prospective observational study involving 16 patients with ataxia and 16 matched controls.
- Trunk-thigh coordination was assessed using the continuous relative phase (CRP) method.
- Within-subject variability was measured by the coefficient of multiple correlation (CMCws), and clinical severity by the SARA scale.
Main Results:
- Ataxic patients displayed chaotic CRP curves, unlike the well-shaped curves in controls, indicating significantly higher trunk-thigh coordination variability (p<0.001).
- This increased variability negatively correlated with gait and stance sub-scores of the SARA scale (p<0.023) and the total SARA score (p=0.002).
Conclusions:
- Degenerative cerebellar ataxia is characterized by a deficit in spatio-temporal coordination between the trunk and thigh.
- This coordination deficit plays a significant role in determining the clinical severity of ataxia, affecting gait and stability.
