title: Comparison of gait performance on different environmental settings for patients with chronic spinal cord injury.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, FLENI Rehabilitation Institute, Buenos Aires, Argentina. lolmos@fleni.org.ar
authors.forename: L E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Olmos
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Freixes
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Gatti
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Cozzo
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Fernandez
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Vila
authors.forename: P E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Agrati
authors.forename: I F
authors.initials: IF
authors.lastname: Rubel
mesh_terms: 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