Dizziness Handicap Inventory Score Is Highly Correlated With Markers of Gait Disturbance. Issue 10 (December 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zanotto, Damiano; Mamuyac, Erin M.; Chambers, Adam R.; Nemer, John S.; Stafford, John A.; Agrawal, Sunil K.; Lalwani, Anil K.
• Is Part Of: Otology & neurotology. Volume 38:Issue 10(2017)
• Publication Date: 2017-12
• Subjects: Dizziness handicap inventory -- Gait disturbance -- Portable gait analysis -- SoleSound; Otology -- Periodicals; Ear -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Skull base -- Surgery -- Periodicals; 617.8005
• DOI: 10.1097/MAO.0000000000001586
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1531-7129

Abstract

Abstract : Objective: To evaluate the association between Dizziness Handicap Inventory—Screening version (DHI-S) score and spatiotemporal gait parameters using SoleSound, a newly developed, inexpensive, portable footwear-based gait analysis system. Study Design: Cross-sectional. Patients: One hundred eighteen patients recruited from otology clinic. Intervention(s): Subjects completed the DHI-S survey and four uninterrupted walking laps wearing SoleSound instrumented footwear on a hard, flat surface for 100 m. Main Outcome Measure(s): For each subject, mean and coefficient of variation (CV) of stride length, cadence, walking speed, foot-ground clearance, double-support time, swing period, and stance-to-swing were computed by considering 40 strides of steady-state walking within each lap. Linear regression models were employed to study correlations between these variables and DHI-S scores after adjusting for age, sex, and race/ethnicity. Results: Patients with higher DHI-S score took shorter steps and less steps per minute (−0.017 m and −1.1 steps/min per every four-point increase in DHI-S score, p < 0.05) than patients with a lower DHI-S score, with slower walking speed (−0.025 m/s per every four-point increase in DHI-S score, p < 0.01). Additionally, patients with higher DHI-S scores showed larger variability in all analyzed temporal parameters (+0.1% for CV of cadence, +0.5% for CV of double support period, +0.2% for CV of swing period, and +0.4% for CV of stance-to-swing, per every four-point increase in DHI-S score, p < 0.01). Conclusion: SoleSound was effective in measuring a wide range of gait parameters. Patients' self-perception of vestibular handicap, as assessed with DHI-S, is associated with deterioration in measurable gait parameters independent of age.