{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,23]],"date-time":"2026-01-23T12:23:22Z","timestamp":1769171002935,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"24","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,12,17]],"date-time":"2019-12-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1576540800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background. Patients suffering from cerebellar ataxia have extremely variable gait kinematic features. We investigated whether and how wearable inertial sensors can describe the gait kinematic features among ataxic patients. Methods. We enrolled 17 patients and 16 matched control subjects. We acquired data by means of an inertial sensor attached to an ergonomic belt around pelvis, which was connected to a portable computer via Bluetooth. Recordings of all the patients were obtained during overground walking. From the accelerometric data, we obtained the harmonic ratio (HR), i.e., a measure of the acceleration patterns, smoothness and rhythm, and the step length coefficient of variation (CV), which evaluates the variability of the gait cycle. Results. Compared to controls, patients had a lower HR, meaning a less harmonic and rhythmic acceleration pattern of the trunk, and a higher step length CV, indicating a more variable step length. Both HR and step length CV showed a high effect size in distinguishing patients and controls (p &lt; 0.001 and p = 0.011, respectively). A positive correlation was found between the step length CV and both the number of falls (R = 0.672; p = 0.003) and the clinical severity (ICARS: R = 0.494; p = 0.044; SARA: R = 0.680; p = 0.003). Conclusion. These findings demonstrate that the use of inertial sensors is effective in evaluating gait and balance impairment among ataxic patients.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s19245571","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,12,20]],"date-time":"2019-12-20T03:19:36Z","timestamp":1576811976000},"page":"5571","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":23,"title":["Exploring Risk of Falls and Dynamic Unbalance in Cerebellar Ataxia by Inertial Sensor Assessment"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"19","author":[{"given":"Pietro","family":"Caliandro","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit\u00e0 Operativa Complessa Neurologia, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Largo A. Gemelli, 8, 00168 Rome, Italy"}]},{"given":"Carmela","family":"Conte","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi, Piazzale Morandi, 6, 20121 Milan, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3547-6055","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chiara","family":"Iacovelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"IRCCS Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi, Piazzale Morandi, 6, 20121 Milan, Italy"}]},{"given":"Antonella","family":"Tatarelli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Epidemiology and Hygiene, INAIL, via Fontana Candida, 1, 00078 Monte Porzio Catone, Italy"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5329-5197","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stefano Filippo","family":"Castiglia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5, 00185 Rome, Italy"}]},{"given":"Giuseppe","family":"Reale","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurosciences, Universit\u00e0 Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo F. Vito, 1, 00168 Rome, Italy"}]},{"given":"Mariano","family":"Serrao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Biotechnologies, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 5, 00185 Rome, Italy"},{"name":"Policlinico Italia, Movement Analysis Laboratory, Piazza del Campidano, 6, 00162 Rome, Italy"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,12,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"194","DOI":"10.1007\/s12311-011-0296-8","article-title":"Gait pattern in inherited cerebellar ataxias","volume":"11","author":"Serrao","year":"2012","journal-title":"Cerebellum Lond. Engl."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"299","DOI":"10.1016\/B978-0-444-63956-1.00018-7","article-title":"Neurophysiology of gait","volume":"154","author":"Serrao","year":"2018","journal-title":"Handb. Clin. 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