Article

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of clearing and
skirting obstacles during the gait on the energetic cost of walking (ECW) of
patients with chronic hemiplegia. The hypothesis was that hemiplegia would have a
greatest increase in the ECW than in the healthy group. DESIGN: Fifteen healthy
subjects and 17 patients with chronic hemiplegia completed two 6-min walking
sessions: one with obstacles and the other without obstacles. During both
sessions, the patients were equipped with a portable gas analyzer to measure
oxygen uptake (V o2). Gait velocity and ECW were calculated. RESULTS: In both
groups, gait velocity was lower in the with-obstacles condition and the ECW was
significantly higher. V o2 was greater in the with-obstacles condition for the
healthy group, whereas it remained unchanged for the group with hemiplegia.
CONCLUSIONS: Results demonstrated that the addition of obstacles during gait
increased the ECW and decreased mean walking speed in both the healthy subjects
and the patients with hemiplegia. More interestingly, the authors found
differences in adaptation strategies between the healthy subjects and the
patients with hemiplegia. During the with-obstacles condition, the oxygen uptakes
of the healthy subjects increased and mean walking speed decreased, whereas, in
the subjects with hemiplegia, only mean walking speed decreased.
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Langue : ANGLAIS