Evaluation of gait analysis as a Prognostic Tool in traumatic brain injury
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22815023Keywords:
gait analysis, traumatic brain injury, prognosis, rehabilitation, functional outcomeAbstract
Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) frequently produces persistent gait abnormalities, yet global severity scores and imaging findings do not reliably capture the motor consequences that shape long-term functional recovery [5,6].
Objective: This review evaluates the evidence for instrumented gait analysis as a prognostic tool in TBI, covering measurement approaches, prognostically relevant gait parameters, and the link between early gait findings and long-term outcome.
Methods: We synthesized cohort studies, systematic reviews, and validation studies addressing gait instrumentation, spatiotemporal and kinematic parameters, and functional outcome in TBI populations across acute rehabilitation and long-term follow-up.
Findings: Reduced gait velocity, spatiotemporal asymmetry, and specific kinematic patterns such as stiff-knee gait and equinovarus posture are consistently associated with functional independence, discharge disposition, and assistive device dependence; wearable sensing has expanded feasible assessment settings but reliability is reduced by cognitive impairment and injury severity, and methodological heterogeneity across studies limits pooled synthesis.
Conclusions: Instrumented gait analysis provides prognostic information after TBI beyond global severity indices and should be used as a structured complement to, rather than a replacement for, established prognostic frameworks, pending larger severity-stratified studies with standardized assessment timing.
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