Does gait analysis alter decision making?
The basic premise of gait analysis is that gait data generated in a motion laboratory provide insight beyond what is derivable from observational analysis alone, and have the potential to influence or alter treatment decisions for at least some patients. The literature does show that gait analysis alters surgical decision making for patients with CP. In three separate studies [29–31], treatment recommendations based on observation of gait changed with the addition of gait analysis data in 52, 93 and 40% of the cases, respectively. In all three studies, however, the investigators were not blinded to their decisions based on observation alone. We also do not know whether these decisions would have been consistent if retested at a later time (reproducibility). In the Hartford study [29], all patients reportedly underwent treatment based on the gait analysis recommendations, and, therefore, in the absence of controls, we do not know whether implementing these recommendations did indeed res
