Lower Extremity Review
Gait speeds less than .6 m/s, a threshold that has been recommended as an indicator of mobility-related health problems, also confer a significantly increased risk of two-year mortality in hospitalized older patients, according to a recent prospective study.
In children with cerebral palsy (CP), gait impairment has a moderate relationship with daily step count and high daily activity levels, according to research from the University of Auckland in Australia.
Step width (SW), step length (SL), and a ratio of the two variables may help predict falls and fall-related injuries in older adults with and without diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), according to research from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
End-stage ankle arthritis patients who receive a newer-generation total joint implant function slightly but significantly better when walking on uneven surfaces than patients who undergo ankle arthrodesis, according to a recent prospective study.
By Hank Black
Moderate to severe medial knee osteoarthritis (OA) is associated with limited range of motion at the midfoot and hallux during barefoot walking—gait alterations that may influence the effects of footwear and orthoses in this…
By Jordana Bieze Foster
Increasing running speed in recreational runners has greater kinetic effects at the ankle than the knee, according to research from Denmark that may have implications for injury prevention.
By Jordana Bieze Foster
Some dorsiflexion gains are surprising – A recent study validates the long-held clinical belief that, in appropriately selected children with cerebral palsy (CP), ankle dorsiflexion during swing phase improves after ankle plantar flexor surgery and that postsurgical rehabilitation should include a focus on dorsiflexor function.
By Emily Delzell
Even if they have a device prescription, individuals with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease tend to put off wearing ankle-foot orthoses (AFOs) until walking function is impaired, according to research conducted at St. George’s University of London and Kingston University,...
Improving gait and coordination among stroke survivors should involve developing rehabilitation techniques that target abnormal muscle timing characteristics, suggests recent research from the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center, OH. The study, e-published in...
Risks involve mechanics, not just chance
Pregnancy changes gait and balance, and in ways that increase the risk of falling in certain women. Research suggests falls aren’t caused by environmental differences and that exercise confers a protective effect, according to investigators from West Virginia University in Morgantown, whose most recent data appeared in the August issue of Gait & Posture.
By Emily Delzell
Type 2 diabetes results in less efficient gait mechanics well before patients develop frank neuropathy and other threats to mobility, according to research in the August issue of Gait & Posture. Investigators for the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, an...
Among patients who sustain a hip fracture, those who can improve 6-meter-walking time by more than one second a day achieve greater functional independence than those who improve more slowly, according to research from the Beit Rivka Geriatric Rehabilitation Center in...
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