Article

OBJECTIVES: To determine the immediate effects of using a stick on walking tolerance and on the
potential explanatory variable of posture, and to provide a preliminary
evaluation of the effects of daily walking stick use on symptoms and function for
people with neurogenic claudication. DESIGN: A 2-phase study of neurogenic
claudication patients comprising a randomized trial of 2 weeks of home use of a
walking stick and a crossover study comparing walking tolerance and posture with
and without a walking stick. SETTING: A primary care-based musculoskeletal
service. PARTICIPANTS: Patients aged 50 years or older with neurogenic
claudication symptoms (N=46; 24 women, 22 men, mean age=71.26y) were recruited.
INTERVENTION: Walking stick. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Phase 1 of the trial used the
Zurich Claudication Questionnaire symptom severity and physical function scores
to measure outcome. The total walking distance during a shuttle walking test and
the mean lumbar spinal posture (measured by using electronic goniometry) were
used as the primary outcome measurements in the second phase. RESULTS: Forty of
the participants completed phase 1 of the trial, and 40 completed phase 2. No
significant differences in symptom severity or physical function were shown in
score improvements for walking stick users (stick user scores - control scores)
in the 2-week trial (95% confidence interval [CI], -.24 to .28 and -.10 to .26,
respectively). In the second phase of the trial, the ratio of the shuttle walking
distance with a stick to without a stick showed no significance (95% CI,
.959-1.096) between the groups. Furthermore, the use of a walking stick did not
systematically promote spinal flexion; no significant difference was shown for
mean lumbar spinal flexion for stick use versus no stick (95% CI, .351 degrees
-.836 degrees ). CONCLUSIONS: The prescription of a walking stick does not
improve walking tolerance or systematically alter the postural mechanisms
associated with symptoms in neurogenic claudication.
CI - Copyright (c) 2010 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS