Article

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of compensatory-step
training of healthy, mobile, young-to-middle aged people with unilateral,
transfemoral or knee disarticulation amputations. Outcomes of interest included
recovery success, reliance on the prosthesis, and the kinematic variables
relevant to trip recovery. Over the course of six training sessions, five
subjects responded to postural disturbances that necessitated forward
compensatory steps to avoid falling. Subjects improved their ability to recover
from these postural disturbances without falling or hopping on the non-prosthetic
limb. Subjects improved their compensatory stepping response by decreasing trunk
flexion and increasing the sagittal plane distance between the body center of
mass and the stepping foot. In response to more challenging disturbances, these
training-related improvements were not observed for the initial step with the
non-prosthetic limb. Regardless of the stepping limb, step length and the change
in pelvic height were not responsive to training. This study exhibits the
potential benefits of a compensatory-step training program for amputees and
informs future improvements to the protocol.
CI - Copyright (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS