There is a dearth of knowledge about how symptom severity affects gait in the chronic (>3 months) mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) population despite up to 53% of people reporting persisting symptoms after mTBI. The aim of this investigation was to determine whether gait is affected in a symptomatic, chronic mTBI group and to assess the relationship between gait performance and symptom severity on the Neurobehavioral Symptom Inventory (NSI). Gait was assessed under single- and dual-task conditions using five inertial sensors in 57 control subjects and 65 persons with chronic mTBI (1.0 year from mTBI). The single- and dual-task gait domains of Pace, Rhythm, Variability, and Turning were calculated from individual gait characteristics. Dual-task cost (DTC) was calculated for each domain. The mTBI group walked (domain z-score mean difference, single-task = 0.70; dual-task = 0.71) and turned (z-score mean difference, single-task = 0.69; dual-task = 0.70) slower (p < 0.001) under both gait conditions, with less rhythm under dual-task gait (z-score difference = 0.21; p = 0.001). DTC was not different between groups. Higher NSI somatic subscore was related to higher single- and dual-task gait variability as well as slower dual-task pace and turning (p < 0.01). Persons with chronic mTBI and persistent symptoms exhibited altered gait, particularly under dual-task, and worse gait performance related to greater symptom severity. Future gait research in chronic mTBI should assess the possible underlying physiological mechanisms for persistent symptoms and gait deficits.

中文翻译：

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有症状的慢性轻度创伤性脑损伤患者的步态表现。

尽管多达 53% 的人报告 mTBI 后症状持续存在，但仍缺乏关于症状严重程度如何影响慢性（> 3 个月）轻度创伤性脑损伤 (mTBI) 人群步态的知识。这项调查的目的是确定步态是否在有症状的慢性 mTBI 组中受到影响，并评估步态表现与神经行为症状量表 (NSI) 中症状严重程度之间的关系。在 57 名对照受试者和 65 名慢性 mTBI 患者（距 mTBI 1.0 年）中使用五个惯性传感器在单任务和双任务条件下评估步态。步态、节奏、可变性和转向的单任务和双任务步态域是根据个体步态特征计算的。计算每个域的双任务成本 (DTC)。mTBI 组行走（域 z 得分均值差异，单任务 = 0.70；双任务 = 0.71）和转向（z-score 平均差，单任务 = 0.69；双任务 = 0.70）慢（p  < 0.001) 在两种步态条件下，在双任务步态下节奏较少（z 分数差异 = 0.21；p  = 0.001）。组间 DTC 没有差异。较高的 NSI 躯体子分数与较高的单任务和双任务步态变异性以及较慢的双任务步伐和转弯有关 ( p  < 0.01)。患有慢性 mTBI 和持续症状的人表现出改变的步态，特别是在双重任务下，以及与更严重的症状相关的更差的步态表现。慢性 mTBI 的未来步态研究应评估持续症状和步态缺陷的可能潜在生理机制。