Reliability and variability of physiotherapists scoring freezing of gait through video analysis.

Background: The "gold standard" marker for freezing of gait severity is percentage of time spent with freezing observed through video analysis.

Objective: This study examined inter- and intra-rater reliability and variability of physiotherapists rating freezing of gait severity through video analysis and explored the effects of experience.

Methods: Thirty physiotherapists rated 14 videos of Timed Up and Go performance by people with Parkinson's and gait freezing.

Automated analysis of gait and modified timed up and go using the Microsoft Kinect in people with Parkinson's disease: associations with physical outcome measures.

Instrumenting physical assessments in people with Parkinson's disease can provide valuable and sensitive information. This study aimed to investigate whether variables derived from a Kinect-based system can provide incremental value over standard habitual gait speed (HGS) and timed up and go (TUG) variables by evaluating associations with (1) motor and (2) postural instability and gait difficulty (PIGD) subscales of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). Sixty-two individuals with Parkinson's disease (age 66 ± 7 years; 74% male) undertook an instrumented HGS and modified TUG tests, in addition to the UPDRS.