Gait & posture
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Matched control data are commonly used to examine recovery from concussion. Limited data exist, however, examining dual-task gait data consistency collected over time in healthy individuals. The study purposes were to: 1) assess the consistency of single-task and dual-task gait balance control measures, 2) determine the minimal detectable change (MDC) of gait balance control measures, and 3) examine the extent to which age and task complexity affect dual-task walking costs in healthy adolescents and young adults. ⋯ Greater frontal plane dual-task costs were observed during more complex secondary tasks (p<0.001). The results revealed good-excellent consistency across testing sessions for all variables and indicated dual-task costs are affected by task complexity. Thus, healthy controls can be effective comparators when assessing injured subjects.
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Multicenter Study
Variability of gait speed during six minutes walking test in COPD and cystic fibrosis patients.
Recently, gait speed reached an increasing importance in the management of respiratory patients. The aim of this retrospective study was to compare walking speed and physiological adaptations during the 6MWT in COPD and CF patients. ⋯ Walking speed and cardio-respiratory parameters evolution during 6MWT differ between COPD and CF patients.
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Ankle fractures are the most common type of lower extremity fractures. The objective of our study was to analyse the changes of temporal and spatial gait parameters and functional outcomes in patients with bimalleolar fractures who followed surgery and rehabilitation compared to healthy controls. 49 patients with ankle fractures and 21 age-matched healthy volunteers were recruited. There were two assessments for the study group: T1 - once weight-bearing was allowed and T2 - twelve weeks after exercise-based rehabilitation programme. ⋯ The OMAS improved significantly from T1 to T2 in all subscales except for squatting. Median value of OMAS improved from 60 (35-90) to 95 (55-100). Our study revealed significant improvements of all temporal and spatial gait parameters, as well as of the functional outcome in patients with surgically treated ankle fractures after twelve-week rehabilitation.
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It has been hypothesized that individuals with low back pain (LBP) will have higher trunk muscle activity during gait, in an attempt to limit spine motion, and that this "guarding strategy" may be influenced by the person's psychological response to pain. This study investigated whether the amplitude of trunk muscle activation differs between persons with chronic LBP and healthy individuals during walking, and whether changes in muscle activation were related to pain catastrophizing. Thirty persons with chronic non-specific LBP, stratified into 2 groups of high (HLBP) and low (LLBP) pain catastrophizing, were contrasted with a control group of 15 healthy individuals during walking on a treadmill at a self-selected speed. ⋯ A significant correlation was found between activation amplitude and pain catastrophizing in most muscles, when controlling for gait speed and pain intensity. These data indicate that altered trunk muscle activation is present in some patients with LBP during walking, but does not represent a universal increase in activation for all muscles. This altered neuromotor control is, however, more strongly associated with pain catastrophizing than with pain intensity, and appears to represent a non-functional, maladaptive behavior, as it alters the normal, phasic pattern of activation in certain trunk muscles.