Original Article
Spinal Cord (2008) 46, 331–334; doi:10.1038/sj.sc.3102132; published online 9 October 2007
Comparison of gait performance on different environmental settings for patients with chronic spinal cord injury
L E Olmos1, O Freixes1, M A Gatti1, D A Cozzo1, S A Fernandez1, C J Vila1, P E Agrati1 and I F Rubel2
- 1Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, FLENI Rehabilitation Institute, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- 2Department of Orthopaedics, FLENI Rehabilitation Institute, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Correspondence: Dr LE Olmos, Rehabilitation Medicine, FLENI Rehabilitation Institute, Ruta 9 Km 52,5, 2325 Montañeses, (B1625XAF) Escobar, Pcia de Buenos Aires, Argentina. E mail: lolmos@fleni.org.ar
Received 27 March 2007; Revised 30 August 2007; Accepted 2 September 2007; Published online 9 October 2007.
Abstract
Study design:
Observational cross-section study.
Objectives:
The objective of our study was to determine if the influence of a community environment would impact on ASIA D spinal cord injured (SCI) gait performance patients. Our main hypothesis is that an outdoor community environment may influence gait speed and endurance on community ambulating patients.
Methods:
Ten-Meter Walking (10MWT) and Six-Minute Walking (6MWT) tests were performed on community ambulating SCI research participants (n=18) in two different environmental conditions: (1) Experimental (indoors Gymnasium) and (2) Natural (community setting). Average gait speed and endurance values were obtained for the two different conditions and analyzed for statistical significance on the nonparametric two-tailed Wilcoxon signed rank test.
Results:
While no difference was observed on the 10MWT we found an improvement on gait performance on the 6 MWT on a community setting.
Conclusions:
Our study showed mixed results on environmental influence on gait speed and endurance on ASIA D patient population. While there is no difference on the 10 MWT, there is an improvement on gait performance on the communitary 6MWT.
Keywords:
spinal cord injury, gait performance, community walking, gait training, gait assessment, environmental effect on gait
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