Evaluation of new concept for balance and gait analysis, patients with neurological disease, elderly people and young adults

Fall accidents among elderly are costly for the society. Gait and balance are reported to reflect best the risk of falling. We recorded gait and balance properties of 15 patients with neurological disease, 20 elderly and 19 young adults. During the Berg Balance Scale test and walk test we collected kinetic data with wearable 3D accelerometers. Results showed significant differences between different subject groups in features calculated from the accelerometer signals. We found that accelerometer signals collected during the walk test could be used to discriminate between subject groups divided according to their Berg Balance Scale score.