Comparison of gait performance on different environmental settings for patients with chronic spinal cord injury.
METHODS
Observational cross-section study.


OBJECTIVE
The objective of our study was to determine if the influence of a community environment would impact on ASIA D spinal cord injured (SCI) gait performance patients. Our main hypothesis is that an outdoor community environment may influence gait speed and endurance on community ambulating patients.


METHODS
Ten-Meter Walking (10MWT) and Six-Minute Walking (6MWT) tests were performed on community ambulating SCI research participants (n=18) in two different environmental conditions: (1) Experimental (indoors Gymnasium) and (2) Natural (community setting). Average gait speed and endurance values were obtained for the two different conditions and analyzed for statistical significance on the nonparametric two-tailed Wilcoxon signed rank test.


RESULTS
While no difference was observed on the 10MWT we found an improvement on gait performance on the 6 MWT on a community setting.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study showed mixed results on environmental influence on gait speed and endurance on ASIA D patient population. While there is no difference on the 10 MWT, there is an improvement on gait performance on the communitary 6MWT.
Olmos
L E
LE
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, FLENI Rehabilitation Institute, Buenos Aires, Argentina. lolmos@fleni.org.ar
Freixes
O
O
Gatti
M A
MA
Cozzo
D A
DA
Fernandez
S A
SA
Vila
C J
CJ
Agrati
P E
PE
Rubel
I F
IF
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D004777:Environment; D004780:Environment, Controlled; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017079:Exercise Tolerance / Q000502:physiology; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology; D020233:Gait Disorders, Neurologic / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010807:Physical Endurance / Q000502:physiology; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012932:Social Facilitation; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000150:complications*; D016896:Treatment Outcome