The purpose of this study was to characteristics of the gait of patients with LSCS using a two-point three-axis accelerometer on the trunk, and to obtain basic date for physical therapy.
The subjects were 30 elderly people without limb pain who joined the Health Promotion Center of Matumoto Dental University Hospital (the asymptomatic group) and 30 patients who came to the orthopedic department of this hospital with the main complaint of intermittent claudication and were diagnosed with LSCS through examination (the LSCS group). Measurement were made by attaching a two-point three-axis accelerometer to the trunk at the second sacral level and the sixth thoracic level, and walk a 10m walkway path at a comfortable walking speed. Comparisons between two groups of 1) medical history, age and gender, and 2) quantitative gait evaluation using a two-point three-axis accelerometer on the trunk, comparing the left-right, up-down, and front-back sway range of the upper and lower trunk, the left-right sway ratio of the upper and lower trunk, and the front-back sway ratio of the upper and lower trunk (front-back sway ratio). Statistical analysis was performed using an unpaired t-test when following a normal distribution, and a Mann-Whitney U test when not following a normal distribution. Statistical processing set the significance level at 5%.
1) There was no significant difference in the comparison of medical history, age and gender. . 2) In the quantitative gait evaluation, the front-back sway ratio of the upper and lower trunk was significantly lower in the LSCS group.
The results of this study showed a significant decrease in the front-back sway ratio in the LSCS group compared to the asymptomatic group. When the front-back sway ratio is large, the gait has a small amount of sway in the upper trunk. On the other hand, when it is small, the gait has a large amount of sway in the upper trunk. Previous studies have reported that the amount of movement during walking is greatest in the sacral and least in the head. It has been reported that patients with LSCS tend to adopt a forward-tilting trunk position to avoid stress on the stenotic area. This suggests that the escaping posture of forward-tilting trunk position increases the amount of movement to the head direction, which may have affected in a gait with greater upper trunk movement and a lower front-to-back movement ratio in the LSCS group than in the asymptomatic group.
The results obtained in this study may provide a basic for the of exercise therapy and the provision of assistive devices.
accerelometer
quantitive evaluation
