Children and adults whose motor skills are impaired due to disability, cerebral palsy or amputation often require care (medical procedures, surgery, rehabilitation, orthopedic support, etc.) to improve their ability to move around. To optimize the care they receive, it’s important to assess their capacities. A technological platform used in the video game and special effects industries to collect and analyze 3D movement data has proven to be an effective decision-making tool for health professionals. Indeed, clinical gait analysis (CGA) precisely measures the movements of each joint. But to convert the raw data into readable and useful information for care teams, the analytical practices must be aligned.
To that end, the Centre interdisciplinaire de recherche en réadaptation et intégration sociale (Cirris) developed a CGA platform led by Katia Turcot and Maxime Robert. To pool the expertise, Cirris joined forces with two other CGA centres in Québec: the Shriners Hospital for Children – Canada and the Centre de réadaptation Marie Enfant – CHU Sainte-Justine. CGA-based clinical services are provided to children with cerebral palsy, thus contributing to the clinical decisions. The collaboration between the three centres has led to the creation of a shared data platform to optimize care for people with a disability.
The research conducted by Cirris and its partners will help standardize the methods used by labs to assess human movement and has already demonstrated that CGA enhances the care provided to people with a disability, improving their social participation and reducing the costs associated with their care. Katia Turcot and Maxime Robert hope their work will lead to CGA becoming more widespread across Québec, especially since its use will eventually be covered by the RAMQ.
Sources
Carcreff, L., Bonnefoy-Mazure, A., de Coulon, G. et Armand, S. (2016). Analyse quantifiée de la marche. Movement & Sport Sciences, 93, 7-21.
https://doi.org/10.1051/sm/2015033
Carollo, J., De, S. et Akuthota, V. (2020). Evidence-Based Physiatry: Clinical Decision-Making With Instrumented Gait Analysis. American Journal of Physical Medicine Rehabilitation, 99(3), 265-266. https://doi.org/10.1097/PHM.0000000000001376
Wren, T.A., Tucker, C.A., Gorton, G.E. III, Õunpuu, S. et Rethlefsen, S.A. (2020). Clinical efficacy of instrumented gait analysis: Systematic review 2020 update. Gait & Posture, 7(80), 274-279. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gaitpost.2020.05.031