Attempted symmetry affects dynamic gait stability in individuals with lower-limb amputation

Bisele, M, Bencsik, M ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6278-0378, Lewis, MGC and Barnett, CT ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6898-9095, 2024. Attempted symmetry affects dynamic gait stability in individuals with lower-limb amputation. Gait and Posture, 107, pp. 182-188. ISSN 0966-6362

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Abstract

Background: Gait in people with lower limb amputation (LLA) is typically asymmetrical. Reducing this asymmetry is often attempted to minimise the impact of secondary health issues. However, temporal-spatial asymmetry in gait of people with LLA has also been shown to underpin dynamic stability.

Research Question: The current study aimed to identify the effects of acute attempts of temporal-spatial symmetry on the dynamic stability of people with unilateral transtibial amputation (UTA). The secondary aim of this study was to identify the corresponding biomechanical adaptations during attempted symmetrical gait.

Methods: Eleven people with UTA walked along a 15m walkway in four different conditions, normal (NORM), attempted symmetrical step length and step frequency (SYMSL+SF) attempted symmetrical step length (SYMSL) and attempted symmetrical step frequency (SYMSF). Dynamic stability was measured using the backward (BW) and mediolateral (ML) margins of stability (MoS).

Results: The results suggested that attempting symmetrical step frequency had a positive effect on gait stability in anterior-posterior and medio-lateral directions, while attempting symmetrical step length had a potentially negative effect on gait stability, although these results did not appear to be significant. An absence of clustering in PCA, supported the lack of significant results indicated no features differentiating between conditions of attempted symmetry compared to habitual gait. Conversely, there was a clustering by limbs which were associated with differences in knee and ankle joint angles between the intact and prosthetic limb, and clustering by individuals highlighting the importance or subject-specific analysis.

Conclusion: The data suggests that attempted symmetrical gait reduced asymmetry but also affects dynamic stability.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Gait and Posture
Creators:	Bisele, M., Bencsik, M., Lewis, M.G.C. and Barnett, C.T.
Publisher:	Elsevier BV
Date:	January 2024
Volume:	107
ISSN:	0966-6362
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2023.09.015 DOI 2237565 Other
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Laura Ward
Date Added:	04 Oct 2024 10:27
Last Modified:	04 Oct 2024 10:27
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/52357

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