Wearable sensor-based gait analysis shows emerging evidence of providing objective biomechanical insights that may support injury risk assessment and rehabilitation monitoring in athletic populations. Evidence from moderate-quality observational studies indicates that simple, well-placed sensors may yield clinically meaningful information on loading and spatiotemporal control, complementing standard examination and decision-making in sports medicine. In practice, tibial accelerometers may be particularly useful for monitoring impact loads relevant to bone stress injuries, while trunk-mounted inertial measurement units show promise for providing spatiotemporal parameters to guide rehabilitation and return-to-play decisions. These applications are feasible in team and clinical environments, require minimal setup, and provide repeatable metrics that can directly inform athlete management. Broader adoption, however, will depend on improving methodological consistency, reporting standards, and integration with other clinical data sources. Future work using adequately powered samples and standardized sensor protocols will be essential to strengthen the evidence base and support clinical implementation.
Seifi et al. (Sat,) studied this question.