Abstract
This paper reports the results of a survey carried out to assess the clinical usage currently being made of gait analysis facilities within the UK.
Thirty-five centres were circulated with a questionnaire which requested information under four main headings: (i) equipment, (ii) research projects, (iii) clinical service commitments, and (iv) subjective views of the ultimate clinical value of the service. Of the 25 completed questionnaires returned, 16 were suitable for inclusion in the final analysis of data.
The survey provided useful data on the equipment and facilities available in each centre together with details of the service available to prospective referring clinicians. Ten centres were considered as being currently involved in some clinical work, with six of these being routinely involved.
The respondents generally felt that gait analysis techniques have a clinical context, if not yet routinely, but the numbers of referrals to the centres is still quite small. A number of areas worthy of further work were identified by the respondents. It is hoped that presentation of these results will stimulate dialogue between centres and between clinicians and bioengineers.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.