10/14/2025
Our Paper of the Month for October is, "Clinic vs. daily life gait characteristics in patients with spinocerebellar ataxia" by Delaram Safarpour, Patty Carlson-Kuhta & Fay Horak.
" Gait impairment is a hallmark of spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA), often emerging early and worsening with disease progression. These impairments, particularly in gait and balance, significantly impact daily functioning, fall risk, and overall quality of life. Clinical trials typically rely on the Scale for the Assessment and Rating of Ataxia (SARA) to quantify disease severity; however, this scale is limited by its subjectivity, low sensitivity, and the need for clinical administration, underscoring the need for more objective, quantitative assessment tools."
BackgroundRecent findings suggest that a single gait assessment in a clinic may not reflect everyday mobility.ObjectiveWe compared gait measures that best di...