title: Energy consumption during prosthetic walking and wheelchair locomotion by elderly hip disarticulation amputees.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the differences in energy consumption by patients with hip disarticulation between prosthetic walking and wheelchair locomotion.
  
  
  METHODS
  : The subjects consisted of seven amputees, all older than 60, with unilateral hip disarticulation. Energy consumption when walking with prosthesis and when propelling a wheelchair, each at the respective comfortable movement speed, was measured by means of a portable telemetric system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average comfortable movement speed for prosthetic walking was 30.5 m/min, which was much slower than the 63.1 m/min average for wheelchair locomotion (P < 0.01). The average oxygen cost value for prosthetic walking was 0.639 ml/kg/m, and the average for wheelchair locomotion was 0.175 ml/kg/m, indicating that oxygen cost was significantly higher for prosthetic walking than for wheelchair locomotion (P < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of this research clearly showed that the efficiency of prosthetic walking for elderly hip disarticulation amputees was very low. When the subject is judged not to be a candidate for practical prosthetic walking after a careful multidisciplinary evaluation, wheelchair locomotion may be an alternative to prosthetic walking as a realistic goal.
authors.affiliation: Hyogo Rehabilitation Center, Kobe, Japan.
authors.forename: Takaaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chin
authors.forename: Hiroko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Oyabu
authors.forename: Yoshiaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Maeda
authors.forename: Izumi
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Takase
authors.forename: Katsuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Machida
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001186:Artificial Limbs; D015331:Cohort Studies; D051341:Dependent Ambulation / Q000502:physiology*; D004188:Disarticulation / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005260:Female; D006621:Hip Joint / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014910:Wheelchairs