Article

OBJECTIVE: To prospectively and longitudinally examine how concussion affects
gait balance control in adolescents during single- and dual-task walking. DESIGN:
Cohort, prospective, repeated-measures design. SETTING: Motion analysis
laboratory. PARTICIPANTS: Adolescents (N=20) identified as suffering a concussion
were matched with healthy control subjects (N=20) and tested 5 times across a
2-month period after injury. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME
MEASURES: Gait temporal-distance parameters included average walking speed, step
length, and step width; whole body center of mass (COM) parameters included
medial/lateral displacement and peak COM medial/lateral and anterior velocities;
dual-task cost, which was defined as percent change from single- to dual-task
conditions; and Stroop test accuracy. RESULTS: No between-group differences were
observed for step length and step width. The dual-task cost for average walking
speed for subjects with concussion was greater than control subjects across the
2-month testing period (main effect of group P=.019), as was the dual-task costs
for peak anterior COM velocity (main effect of group P=.017) and total COM
medial/lateral displacement (main effect of group P=.013). The total COM
medial/lateral displacement (group x task interaction P=.006) and peak COM
medial/lateral velocity (main effect of group P=.027; main effect of task P=.01)
were significantly greater in subjects with concussion compared with control
subjects during dual-task walking. Subjects with concussion were significantly
less accurate than controls on the Stroop test (main effect of group P=.004).
CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that concussion affects the ability of
adolescents to control body posture during gait up to 2 months after injury.
Furthermore, dual-task paradigms may provide additional useful information in the
clinical assessment and recovery of concussion.
CI - Copyright (c) 2013 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS