Article

Functional reach (FR) is a clinical measure, defined as the maximum distance one
can reach, forward beyond arm's length, able to identify elderly subjects at risk
of recurrent falls. Subjects, exhibiting the same FR can perform the motor task
in different ways: a kinematic analysis of the FR, task can help to identify the
motor strategy adopted. The FR test was applied to 17 diabetic non-neuropathic,
(CTRL) and 37 neuropathic (DN) subjects. Motor strategies adopted were defined
as: "hip" or "other" strategy; the latter included: "mixed" and "trunk rotation"
strategies. Principal Component Analysis and non-parametric statistical tests
were used to study the different execution modalities of the FR test. Results
show that, in CTRL, the most important parameters are those related to trunk
flexion in the sagittal plane. Instead, for DN, the main features are related not
only to trunk flexion but also to trunk rotation in the transverse plane.
Percentages of subjects who used "hip" or "other" strategies are similar for CTRL
and DN subjects. However, within the "other" strategy group, the percentage of DN
that used a "trunk rotation" strategy was much higher than for CTRL. Results show
that individuals, although exhibiting the same reaching distance, adopt different
movement strategies. Consequently it is important to evaluate the kinematic
behaviour and not only the clinical measure, because the evaluation of the motor
strategy might be useful in the early detection of subjects at risk of postural
instability.
CI - Copyright (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS