Simple Video-Based Spatiotemporal Gait Analysis Is Not Better than Subjective Visual Assessment of Lameness in Dogs

Abstract

Lameness is a common clinical presentation in both general and specialized small animal veterinary practices. Apart from simple and/or self-limiting conditions, lameness due to osteoarthritis occurs frequently1–3 and usually requires long-term management, such as analgesics and lifestyle changes.4 The clinical diagnosis can be made and treatment response assessed with the aid of visual gait analysis using numerical rating scales.5 However, these are subjective, vary between observers and time points, making accurate assessments of improvement or deterioration in lameness over time difficult: agreement with objective analyses is generally poor, especially for low-grade lameness.6,7 Consistently grading lameness severity between clinic visits, and between veterinarians in larger clinics, is therefore challenging and potentially compromises assessment of response to treatment, particularly with lower grades of lameness for which visual cues are less dramatic. While lameness severity can be assessed objectively using kinetic systems such as force-plates, pressure sensitive mats and treadmills,8 these are not widely available outside research or referral settings. Kinematic gait analysis using marker-based motion capture systems can also be used to