The Feasibility of Measuring Gait in an Outpatient Cognitive Neurology Clinical Setting

Issue title: Gait Disorders in Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias

Guest editors: Manuel Montero-Odasso and George Perry

Article type: Short Communication

Authors: Nocera, Joe R.^{a; b; c} | Arsik, Idil^d | Keskinocak, Pinar^d | Lepley-Flood, Amy^a | Lah, James J.^a | Levey, Allan I.^a | Esper, Gregory J.^a

Affiliations: [a] Emory University, Department of Neurology, Atlanta, GA, USA | [b] Emory University, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA | [c] Center for Visual and Neurocognitive Rehabilitation, Atlanta VA, Atlanta, GA, USA | [d] Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Atlanta, GA, USA

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Joe R. Nocera, 1670 Clairmont Road, Decatur, GA 30033, USA. Tel.: +1 404 321 6111/Ext. 206354; E-mail: [email protected].

Abstract: There is increasing interest in gait evaluations in clinical settings given the associations between gait and health outcomes. However, efforts examining implementation of gait evaluation in neurological clinics are lacking. Herein, gait implementation within a cognitive neurology clinic is presented. Over a 21-month period, a gait evaluation was collected on 81% of eligible patients (n = 2,622; mean age 73.2±9.5; age range 49–94 years; 47% female). Patients and staff reported being satisfied with the gait assessment. These finding have implications for gait evaluations in clinical settings and for clinical research aimed at understanding the impact of cognitive symptomatology on gait.

Keywords: Cognition, dementia, gait, implementation

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-190106

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 71, no. s1, pp. S51-S55, 2019