These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Gait characteristics and influence of fatigue during the 6-minute walk test in patients with post-polio syndrome.
    Author: Vreede KS, Henriksson J, Borg K, Henriksson M.
    Journal: J Rehabil Med; 2013 Sep; 45(9):924-8. PubMed ID: 23999579.
    Abstract:
    OBJECTIVE: To evaluate gait in patients with post-polio syndrome, using the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) combined with three-dimensional kinematic analysis. DESIGN: Descriptive study. SUBJECTS: Eighteen patients and 11 healthy controls. METHODS: Kinematic data were obtained during a 6MWT by a Vicon motion capture system. Distance, heart rate, leg tiredness, dyspnoea and exertion were also recorded. RESULTS: Patients with post-polio syndrome showed larger increases in leg tiredness (p < 0.001) and dyspnoea (p < 0.05) as a result of the 6MWT than did controls. Walking speed decreased by 14.1% in patients vs 4.7% in controls (p < 0.05). Fourteen out of 18 patients displayed plantar-flexed ankle at initial contact (1/11 controls). At foot-off, the patients had a flexed hip (extended in controls) and a more flexed knee. Walking speed in patients correlated with hip angle at foot-off, at the start (r = -0.60, p < 0.001) and the end of the 6MWT (r = -0.74, p < 0.001), being higher the more the hip was extended. CONCLUSION: The 6MWT is fatiguing for patients with post-polio syndrome, and this was reflected in the kinematic data. Walking speed was negatively correlated with the increased hip flexion, but not with the ankle plantar-flexion at foot-off in the patients with post-polio syndrome. The three-dimensional results underscore the importance of hip function in this patient group.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]