ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of fatigue level and sex on the range of motions of the lower extremities and impulses during the jump-landing phase after performing bilateral fatiguing tasks. METHODS: In total, 41 healthy young adults volunteered for this study. Participants' jump-landing trajectories were monitored using nine cameras, and ground reaction forces were measured using a force plate. Participants performed five maximal bilateral countermovement jumps as prefatiguing tasks. The fatiguing tasks consisted of maximal effort contractions of the knee extensor at 60°/s on a dynamometer until task failure, defined as the inability to reach 50% of the peak knee extension torque for three consecutive times. The post-task maximal bilateral jumps were immediately captured after the participants failed the fatiguing task. Participants were asked to perform this cycle again, performing the fatiguing contraction task until failure to reach 30% of the peak knee extension torque. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: It was found that the knee joint was more extended in the post-30% fatiguing task, which was due to the reduction of the flexion angle of the hip and knee joints in response to fatigue level. The impulses for both sexes were reduced at the severe fatigue level. Fatigability altered jump-landing kinematics, jump heights and impulses in response to fatigue level. The post-30% fatiguing task elicited more fatigue than the post-50% fatiguing task.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Recently, arm facilitation has been interested in gait rehabilitation. However, there have been few studies concerning arm facilitation in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). The aim of our study was to investigate the effect of increasing arm weights on gait pattern in patients with PD. METHODS: Twenty-seven patients with PD were enrolled, and they underwent gait analysis using a three-dimensional motion capture system. Sandbags were applied to the distal forearms in all participants. We compared gait parameters including arm swing, pelvic motion, spatiotemporal data, and relative rotational angle between the weighted and unweighted gaits. RESULTS: The total arm-swing amplitude and pelvic rotation were significantly higher when walking with additional arm weights than without arm weights. Cadence, walking speed, stride length, and swing phase were significantly higher, whereas stride time, double-support time, and stance phase were significantly lower, when walking with additional arm weights than without arm weights. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that adding weights to the arm during walking may facilitate arm and pelvic movements, which results in changes to gait patterns. The therapeutic use of additional arm weights could be considered for gait rehabilitation in PD to improve gait impairment. SIGNIFICANCE: Arm-swing facilitation using weight load improved gait in Parkinson's disease.
