Subclinical Gait Differences in Multiple Sclerosis with Mild Disability: Spatiotemporal Analysis During Single and Dual Task

Gait analysis, acquired through an optoelectronic system, is considered one of the most reliable tools for providing a quantitative assessment of human movement. Widely used in neurology today, it supports clinical decision-making by offering data and measurements that can be compared with current clinical evaluation scales, helping to provide an accurate diagnosis, guide patient management and rehabilitation. In this study, spatio-temporal gait data in single and dual tasks were acquired from 19 subjects with multiple sclerosis (MS), preserved walking ability and two different levels of disability (Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) ranging from 1.5 and 3 and EDSS ≤ 1). Spatio-temporal gait data were compared between MS patients with EDSS ≤ 1 and EDSS ranging from 1.5 and 3 in order to assess which subclinical changes in gait patterns can be associated with different mild functional impairments. Our findings quantitatively confirm that MS patients with a higher but still mild disability show a marked decrease in gait speed, which is associated with lower cadence, shorter stride length, reduced swing time, and longer stance time.