ABMA study data and code

The data and code provided here are related to the following paper (currently submitted) :

Walking towards the future – Exploring OpenTUG's validity in automatic walking activity analyses and the relationship with cognition in vestibular patients.

Vestibular disorders impair body orientation and spatial navigation, often causing cognitive and affective symptoms reducing quality of life. Traditional assessments involve time-consuming physiological and neuropsychological evaluations. This study investigates the feasibility and validity of applying a 2D human pose estimation (OpenTUG) to automatically analyse the walking activity of patients with vestibular disorders trough the Timed-Up & Go (TUG) task.

Complementary, the relations between TUG and cognition are explored. Forty-eight patients undergoing treatment for vestibular disorders and 26 mean age-matched controls performed the TUG at normal, slow, and fast walking speeds; neuropsychological evaluations assessing attention (Test for Attentional Performance -TAP-) and quality-of-life questionnaires. Video-recorded TUG performances were analyzed manually and using OpenTUG, which automatically extracted gait parameters. Retrospective neuro-otological and postural data were also reviewed. Both manual and automated analyses showed similar results. Patients took significantly more time and steps to complete the TUG at normal and slow speeds. TUG measures significantly correlated between manual and OpenTUG evaluations for all participants. Patients reported significantly more physical and emotional complaints (DHI, HADS, and NVI-emotion) than controls, but showed no differences in objective neuropsychological tasks. Moderate significant correlations between TUG measures and several measures of postural testing and neuropsychological assessment were observed. These findings demonstrate the feasibility and validity of using OpenTUG to automatically extract clinically relevant gait parameters. The relationship between TUG performance and neuropsychological measures highlights the potential for integrating simple walking tasks with pose estimation as a rapid, cost-effective preliminary assessment of vestibular patient’s difficulties.