Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 28, 2026
Lower-Limb Biomechanical Characteristics Associated with Unplanned Gait Termination Under Different Walking Speeds
Published on: August 25, 2020
Gait characteristics of CKD patients: a systematic review
Damiano D Zemp1,2, Olivier Giannini3,4,5, Pierluigi Quadri2,3
1Institute of Human Movement Sciences and Sport, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, HCP H 25.1, Leopold-Ruzicka-Weg 4, Zurich, Switzerland.
Insights
Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is linked to impaired gait and increased fall risk, primarily studied through walking speed. Research gaps exist in analyzing gait quality and its relation to falls in CKD patients.
Area of Science:
- Nephrology
- Gerontology
- Biomechanics
Background:
- Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is associated with significant gait impairment and high fall rates, especially in advanced stages.
- Gait dysfunction in CKD contributes to increased hospitalizations, institutionalization, and healthcare utilization.
- Understanding gait characteristics is crucial for managing CKD patient mobility and safety.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review and evaluate the quality of studies on CKD patients' gait characteristics across different disease stages.
- To identify consistencies and contradictions in findings regarding gait in CKD.
- To highlight gait parameters associated with fall risk in CKD patients.
Main Methods:
- Comprehensive literature search across multiple databases (CINAHL, Cochrane, EMBASE, Medline, PEDro, PubMed, Scopus) up to June 2018.
- Inclusion of studies in English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch.
- Methodological quality assessment using an adapted Downs and Black checklist for both randomized and non-randomized studies.
Main Results:
- Thirty-one cross-sectional and 9 longitudinal studies were analyzed, involving 3901 and 659 participants, respectively.
- Studies predominantly focused on gait speed, neglecting detailed spatiotemporal gait variables.
- CKD progression was generally associated with reduced walking speed, but no studies linked gait parameters to fall risk.
Conclusions:
- A significant lack of research exists on gait quality in CKD patients.
- Current studies primarily measure gait speed, overlooking other critical gait parameters.
- Further research is recommended to investigate gait parameters and their relation to fall risk in CKD, advocating for standardized gait analysis protocols to prevent mobility decline and falls.
Background:
People with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) often present with prevalent gait impairment and high fall rates, particularly in advanced CKD stages. Gait impairment and its consequences is associated with increased hospital admission, institutionalization, and greater need for health care. The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate the quality of studies investigating CKD patients' gait characteristics at different CKD stages, to highlight areas of agreement and contradiction between studies reporting aspects of gait in CKD, and to discuss and emphasize gait parameters associated with fall risk.
Methods:
We performed a literature search of trials in CINAHL (EBSCO), Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Medline (EBSCO), PEDro, PubMed, and Scopus databases from their inception to June 30th 2018 using a two-stage process for the identification of studies. We retrieved English-, German-, Italian-, Spanish-, Portuguese and Dutch-language articles for review. Methodological quality of randomized and non-randomized studies was assessed with an adapted version of the Downs and Black checklist.
Results:
Thirty-one studies (22 cross-sectional with 3901 participants) and 9 longitudinal intervention studies (1 randomized control trial, 5 controlled clinical trials and 3 one-group pre-post-test; with 659 participants) were considered. The studies revealed a primary emphasis on gait speed measures within clinical tests, and a neglect of spatiotemporal gait variables. Most of the studies showed that CKD progression is associated with slowing of walking speed. No studies analysed the relation between gait parameters and fall risk.
Conclusions:
There was a paucity of studies investigating aspects of gait quality in patients with CKD. In the majority of studies, only gait speed is analysed as a performance indicator. The relation between gait parameters and fall risk in CKD is not investigated. We formulate several recommendations to fill the current research gap, encourage the use of standardized gait analysis protocols that include assessment of spatiotemporal parameters in clinical care of patients with CKD, aimed at prevention of mobility decline and falls risk.
Related Concept Videos
01:10Review and Preview
Percentiles are a type of fractile that partition data into...
01:13Review and Preview
01:23Characteristics of Life
01:20Random and Systematic Errors
01:17Systematic Sampling Method
Systematic sampling is one of the simplest methods...
01:10Propagation of Uncertainty from Systematic Error