Sensitivity

The Sensitivity and the Cadence are the most important settings for customizing your StepWatch to the gait style of any subject. The Sensitivity determines how much movement is necessary for a step to be detected. The setting is dependent both on the mechanics of the subject and the particular threshold level of each individual monitor. The following table gives you the recommended ranges, but you may want to go outside them for subjects with unusual gait styles. You can see the threshold on the Advanced Programming screen in the scrolling field labeled Calibration.

It is important to remember that RAISING the numerical value of the Sensitivity setting makes the StepWatch LESS SENSITIVE to movement.

Suggested Sensitivity Settings Based on Threshold Values

Calibrated Threshold	Suggested Setting	Setting Range*
1.05	16	12 to 20
1.06	15	11 to 19
1.07	14	10 to 18
1.08	13	9 to 17
1.09	12	8 to 16
1.10	11	7 to 15
1.11	10	6 to 14
1.12	9	5 to 13
1.13	8	4 to 12
1.14	7	3 to 11

*This range is a starting point. You may want to go outside of it for unusual subjects

If your subject has very dynamic motion at the ankle and utilizes a wide range of cadences, you may need to RAISE the numerical value of the Sensitivity setting to avoid double counting during slow walking while keeping the Cadence value small enough to accurately capture fast cadences. If your subject has unusually gentle motion at the ankle (like with shuffling gait), you may need to LOWER the numerical value of the Sensitivity setting to avoid missing steps.