Body-Worn Motion Sensors Detect Gait Deficits in People with Impaired Fasting Glucose Who Have Normal 400-Meter Walk Time

Background: Gait is increasingly recognized as a marker of general health status. Abnormal gait characteristics have been observed in people with diabetes, but it is unclear if subtle changes in specific gait characteristics can be found in people with impaired fasting glucose (IFG), who are not yet classified as diabetic (prediabetic). Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate if digital gait measures discriminate people with IFG from healthy control subjects (HC) who have a normal 400-meter walk time. Methods: One-hundred and eight people with IFG (mean age: 71.20 years) and 63 healthy control participants (mean age: 70.40 years) wore 6 inertial sensors (Opals by APDM, a Clario Company) while performing a 400-meter fast walk test. In total, 56 measures were derived from the 400-meter walk test, including time to complete the test. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to investigate the differences between the prediabetic and healthy control groups while adjusting for body mass index (BMI) as a covariate. Results: After controlling for BMI as a covariate, 9 out of 55 gait measures were significantly different (p<10-4) between IFG and HC groups. Step duration, cadence, and turn velocity were the most discriminative measures. In contrast, there was no significant difference between groups for stopwatch timed for 400-meter walk test. Conclusion: Specific gait measures using body-worn sensors could be abnormal in people with IFG, even when stop watch time for the 400-meter walk test is normal. Thus, digital gait measures show promise to be used as endpoints for clinical trials in people with prediabetes. Disclosure V.V.Shah: Employee; APDM Wearable Technologies, A Clario Company. P.Carlson-kuhta: None. K.Sowalsky: Employee; Clario. M.Mancini: Consultant; Clario. F.B.Horak: Employee; APDM Precision Motion, division of Clario. Funding National Institutes of Health (5IK2CX000729-05)