Impaired foot placement strategy during walking in people with incomplete spinal cord injury

Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation

Research

Edwin H. F. van Asseldonk¹  Alexander C. H. Geurts²  Eline Zwijgers³  Noël L. W. Keijsers⁴  Marije Vos-van der Hulst⁵ 

[1] Department of Biomechanical Engineering, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands;Department of Rehabilitation, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands;Department of Rehabilitation, Sint Maartenskliniek, Nijmegen, The Netherlands;Department of Rehabilitation, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands;Department of Research, Sint Maartenskliniek, Nijmegen, The Netherlands;Department of Rehabilitation, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands;Department of Research, Sint Maartenskliniek, Nijmegen, The Netherlands;Department of Sensorimotor Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands;Department of Rehabilitation, Sint Maartenskliniek, Nijmegen, The Netherlands;

关键词: Walking;    Balance;    Spinal cord injury;    Foot placement strategy;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12984-022-01117-0

 received in 2022-08-26, accepted in 2022-11-23,  发布年份 2022

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundImpaired balance during walking is a common problem in people with incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI). To improve walking capacity, it is crucial to characterize balance control and how it is affected in this population. The foot placement strategy, a dominant mechanism to maintain balance in the mediolateral (ML) direction during walking, can be affected in people with iSCI due to impaired sensorimotor control. This study aimed to determine if the ML foot placement strategy is impaired in people with iSCI compared to healthy controls.MethodsPeople with iSCI (n = 28) and healthy controls (n = 19) performed a two-minute walk test at a self-paced walking speed on an instrumented treadmill. Healthy controls performed one extra test at a fixed speed set at 50% of their preferred speed. To study the foot placement strategy of a participant, linear regression was used to predict the ML foot placement based on the ML center of mass position and velocity. The accuracy of the foot placement strategy was evaluated by the root mean square error between the predicted and actual foot placements and was referred to as foot placement deviation. Independent t-tests were performed to compare foot placement deviation of people with iSCI versus healthy controls walking at two different walking speeds.ResultsFoot placement deviation was significantly higher in people with iSCI compared to healthy controls independent of walking speed. Participants with iSCI walking in the self-paced condition exhibited 0.40 cm (51%) and 0.33 cm (38%) higher foot placement deviation compared to healthy controls walking in the self-paced and the fixed-speed 50% condition, respectively.ConclusionsHigher foot placement deviation in people with iSCI indicates an impaired ML foot placement strategy in individuals with iSCI compared to healthy controls.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2022

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