Article

Augmented feedback is frequently used in gait training to efficiently correct
specific gait patterns in patients with different disorders.
The patients use
this external augmented feedback to align actual movements in a way that
predefined gait characteristics can be achieved. Voluntary changes of gait
characteristics are reported to reduce local dynamic stability (LDS) which in
turn is associated with increased risk of falling. The aim of this study was to
evaluate the instantaneous effect of visual feedback, provided to help patients
to correct frontal plane pelvis and trunk movements, on the LDS of pelvis and
trunk. Kinematic gait data was captured in ten women with gait disorders. The
effect of visual feedback on LDS, quantified with the largest Lyapunov exponent,
of walking was examined. We found a significant decreased LDS (e.g. pelvis:
p=.009) in our subjects when they were using visual augmented feedback. Our data
suggest that the use of visual augmented feedback causes less stable gait
patterns indicating a reduced ability to respond to small perturbations which
might increase risk of falling. Therefore, researchers or clinicians who aim to
correct gait patterns through real time based external augmented feedback should
consider the potential negative effect on gait stability. It should be evaluated
if the possible increased fall risk provoked by visual feedback exceeds possible
increases in fall risk induced by conventional gait-retraining interventions. The
external validity of the study is limited because of the low sample size and
inhomogeneous group characteristics. Thus, further studies including homogeneous
cohorts are required.
CI - Copyright (c) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS