Abstract
[Purpose] We investigated the gait velocity and cadence using the gait quality chart (GQC), and verified the accuracy of the GQC which is often used by therapists in the evaluation. [Subjects] Participants who met the criteria for this study (n=30). [Methods] To evaluate the gait velocity, cadence and assessment by GQC in this study, the patients were asked to walk a distance of 13 m. Mean values were used in the analysis, and measurements were repeated three times. [Results] There was a significant, positive correlation between gait velocity and cadence, showing that cadence increased as the gait velocity increased. For the correlations between the gait velocity and the GQC items, and cadence and the GQC items, significant, positive correlations were found with the ankle, knee, and the trunk/arm items, but not with the hip/pelvic ratio, indicating that the gait quality was higher as the gait velocity increased. [Conclusion] The results show that the items that are observed at the hip/pelvis cannot be accurately observed because of the small angular joint movement and rapid motion, even though the general qualitative displacements of the GQC provide subjective data that can give results similar to those obtained by the scientific measurement tools.
