Movement fluency metrics during multi-phase sit-to-walk and reach-to-grasp: Test-retest reliability and agreement between laboratory-based and portable 3D motion analysis systems

Wells, Jacob, Chandler, Elizabeth, Clark, Allan, Yüksel, Canan, Kizilay, Merve, Payne, David, Hancock, Nicola, Gilbert, Louise and Pomeroy, Valerie M. (2026) Movement fluency metrics during multi-phase sit-to-walk and reach-to-grasp: Test-retest reliability and agreement between laboratory-based and portable 3D motion analysis systems. Gait & Posture, 123. ISSN 0966-6362

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Abstract

Background: International consensus recommends use of kinematic metrics of movement during standardized functional tasks after stroke to ascertain whether rehabilitation is driving behavioral restitution or compensation. Quality of human movement can be characterized by fluency metrics including smoothness and hesitation. Before using these metrics in stroke rehabilitation it is important to find whether ‘reference values’, from healthy adults, are repeatable. Research question: Do kinematic metrics of smoothness and hesitation have test-retest reliability during standardized functional tasks performed by healthy adults? Methods: a correlational agreement study. Testing sessions separated by 1–4 weeks. Participants, 75 adults reporting no neurological or musculoskeletal diagnosis, performed standardized multi-phase sit-to-walk and reach-to-grasp with kinematic data collected simultaneously by optokinetic and video-based 3D motion analysis systems. Smoothness was derived using the Spectral Arc Length method. Hesitation was the maximum decrease in thorax forward velocity as percentage of peak value. Analysis used the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) with 95 % confidence intervals [95 % CI]. The clinically acceptable level of test-retest reliability was set as, ICC 0.75 [lower 95 % CI 0.70 or above]. Findings: of the 75 participants, 72 completed both sessions. Neither smoothness nor hesitation kinematic metrics reached clinically acceptable test-retest reliability for either motion analysis system. Intra-participant variability was observed within sessions, e.g., mean coefficients of variation for sit-to-walk hesitation ranged from 13 % to 22 %. Significance: Test-retest reliability of smoothness and hesitation kinematic metrics was clinically unacceptable for multi-phase tasks. Intra-participant within-session variation was observed. This intra-participant variation could hamper establishment of reference values for use in stroke rehabilitation.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Data availability: The data for the study reported in this manuscript are available from our manuscript is now available on Mendeley Data: https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/74xbrfwy97/1. Funding information: The research was supported financially by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Brain Injury MedTech Co-operative based at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and University of Cambridge. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care. Canan Yüksel and Merve Kizilay were supported financially by the Ministry of National Education of the Republic of Türkiye. This support, provided under the Turkish state's Law No. 1416. The funding body was not involved in the design, execution, interpretation, or writing of the study.
Uncontrolled Keywords: reliability,reproducibility,validity,kinematics,smoothness,movement,biophysics,rehabilitation,orthopedics and sports medicine,sdg 3 - good health and well-being ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/1300/1304
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Rehabilitation
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Mental Health and Social Care (fka Lifespan Health)
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Statistics
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Norwich Institute for Healthy Aging
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Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 09 Sep 2025 11:30
Last Modified: 11 Nov 2025 17:30
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/100329
DOI: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2025.08.084

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