2010 Volume 25 Issue 1 Pages 61-65
[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to estimate the step length from tri-axial acceleration signals and to verify the validity and reliability of the step length estimation using newly developed software. [Subjects] Subjects were 40 young healthy adults. [Methods] To study the validity and to identify the initial contacts from accelerations, correlations between the step length estimates and the corresponding intervals of footprints were examined under two conditions (barefoot and a leg length discrepancy model). The reliability of the step length estimation was tested using inter-rater correlation. [Results] The step length estimates were highly correlated with footprint intervals (Spearman's rho, 0.97). High inter-rater correlations of the step length estimation were also found for both barefoot and the leg length discrepancy model. [Conclusion] These results suggest the possible application of the estimation of step length using a tri-axial accelerometer in clinical settings.
