The cost of being stable: Does the effort for balance control affect the energy cost of walking in amputees and stroke patients?

Completed

Conditions: CVA patients
stroke patients
Lower limb amputees
subjects with a lower limb amputation
10005959
10007963

Registration Number: NL-OMON38508

Lead Sponsor: Vrije Universiteit

Brief Summary: Not available

Detailed Description: Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: Completed

Sex: Not specified

Target Recruitment: 60

Inclusion Criteria

All subjects: above age 18 years and able to walk on a treadmill during five uninterrupted minutes from which the last three minutes without handrail support. Additionally they have to be able to walk an imposed step pattern.
Stroke patients a score of 4 or higher on the Functional Ambulatory Category (FAC)
Amputees a SIGAM mobility scale D-F (being able to walk more than 50 meters independently on an even surface with or without an assistive device), and a proper fitting prosthesis for at least six months.

Exclusion Criteria

All subjects: cognitive and communicative disorders that could interfere with the protocol, cardiovascular or pulmonary co-morbidities contra-indicating moderate exercise, visual impairments that could interfere with the protocol, and medication and/or co-morbidities that could interfere with balance control or energy expenditure.
Amputees: stump problems (pain, swelling, pressure sores) and significantly fluctuating stump volume within the last six months.

Study & Design

Study Type: Interventional

Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
<p>Primary outcome parameter is energy cost of walking (in J*kg-1m-1), calculated<br /><br>from breath by breath gas analysis</p><br>

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
<p>The following balance control related outcome parameters will be calculated:<br /><br>steplength, stepwidth, trunk acceleration and the variability of these<br /><br>measures, as well as gait stability and regularity. Gait stability will be<br /><br>quantified with the Lyapunov exponent and gait regularity will be quantified<br /><br>with the sample entropy. Additionally muscle activity will be measured in<br /><br>stroke patients using surface electromyography. </p><br>