Walking Ability Outcome Measures in Individuals with Spinal Cord Injury: A Systematic Review

Isabel Sinovas-Alonso, Ángel Gil-Agudo, Roberto Cano- de-la-Cuerda and Antonio J. del-Ama
Additional contact information
Isabel Sinovas-Alonso: International Doctoral School, Rey Juan Carlos University, 28008 Madrid, Spain
Ángel Gil-Agudo: Biomechanics and Technical Aids Unit, Hospital Nacional de Parapléjicos, 45071 Toledo, Spain
Roberto Cano- de-la-Cuerda: Department of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Health Sciences, Rey Juan Carlos University, Alcorcón, 28922 Madrid, Spain
Antonio J. del-Ama: Biomechanics and Technical Aids Unit, Hospital Nacional de Parapléjicos, 45071 Toledo, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 18, 1-16

Abstract: Walking function recovery in spinal cord injury (SCI) is tackled through several therapeutic approaches in which precise evaluation is essential. A systematic review was performed to provide an updated qualitative review of walking ability outcome measures in SCI and to analyze their psychometric properties. PubMed, Cochrane, and PEDro databases were consulted until 1 April 2020. Seventeen articles written in English were included. Five of them studied the walking index for SCI, four studied the 10 meter walk test, and two studied the six-minute walk test, the timed Up and go test, and the Berg balance scale. The rest of the articles studied the following metrics: gait profile score, spinal cord injury functional ambulation profile, five times sit-to-stand test, spinal cord injury functional ambulation inventory, spinal cord independence measure (indoors and outdoors mobility items), locomotor stages in spinal cord injury, community balance and mobility scale, and activity-based balance level evaluation scale. The choice of a single or a set of metrics should be determined by the clinician. Based on the results obtained in this review, a combination of outcome measures is proposed to assess walking ability. Future work is required to integrate a more realistic environment for walking assessment.

Keywords: spinal cord injury; walking ability; outcome measures; psychometric properties (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9517/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9517/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:18:p:9517-:d:632267

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().