Assessment of the effect of gaze-tracking biofeedback training on motor analysis skills

Background Physiotherapy students often face challenges during visual observation of patient motion and gait because of the complexity and brevity of the task. Accurate visual movement assessment is critical, yet difficult to master, especially for students. Objective To examine the usefulness of gaze trajectories for the acquisition of gait observation skills, and to determine whether there are differences in the effectiveness of gait observation skills and gaze trajectory training between student grades. Methods Data were collected from 6 third- and 4 fourth-year physiotherapy students (mean age, 21.8 years). A video was filmed with a simulated patient in frontal and oblique views. Additionally, the training was recorded by an experienced therapist’s trajectory using the same video. Participants’ gaze trajectories before and after gaze training were recorded, and standard deviations and saccades of the gaze trajectory coordinates were compared. Results No significant pre- and post-training changes were observed in the oblique view. The fourth-year students showed a larger X -axis gaze standard deviation after training than the third-year students. The saccade ratio improved post-training in the frontal view for all the students. Conclusions Observing oblique perspectives is challenging for students. Fourth-year students with more knowledge and clinical experience receive more effective eye training.