title: Trunk kinematics during walking in persons with multiple sclerosis: the influence of body weight support.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although body weight supported (BWS) treadmill training (TT) leads to some improvements in walking ability, it has not been proven that it is more effective than other walking therapies in persons with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). One possible explanation could be that BWSTT focuses on the cyclic movement of the lower extremities while the trunk is passively suspended in the harness.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to assess the 3 dimensional trunk and pelvis movements during BWS treadmill walking.
  
  
  METHODS
  14 PwMS and 14 healthy persons (8 male/20 female; age 23 to 59 years) walked with 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 50% and 70% BWS. After a familiarization period, kinematic electromagnetic tracking (Polhemus Liberty™ 240/16) of the trunk and pelvis movements was applied. Statistical analysis consisted of a repeated measures ANOVA with simple contrasts (SPSS 20).
  
  
  RESULTS
  This study shows that BWS walking leads in general to smaller maximum trunk and pelvis movement amplitudes compared with walking without BWS, this with exception of the pelvis anterior-posterior movement in healthy subjects.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data help to identify and isolate the effect of different BWS levels in PwMS and in healthy persons and suggest to use BWS lower than 30% for treadmill training.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy, Advanced Rehabilitation Technology and Science (ARTS), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium Centre for Neurosciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Swinnen
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy, Advanced Rehabilitation Technology and Science (ARTS), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium University College Thim van der Laan, Physiotherapy, Landquart, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Baeyens
authors.affiliation: University College Thim van der Laan, Physiotherapy, Landquart, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Seppe
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pintens
authors.affiliation: National Multiple Sclerosis Centre, Melsbroek, Belgium.
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Van Nieuwenhoven
authors.affiliation: National Multiple Sclerosis Centre, Melsbroek, Belgium.
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ilsbroukx
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Buyl
authors.affiliation: University College Thim van der Laan, Physiotherapy, Landquart, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Clijsen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ron
authors.affiliation: Artesis University College of Antwerp, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
authors.forename: Maggie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goossens
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy, Advanced Rehabilitation Technology and Science (ARTS), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium Centre for Neurosciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Romain
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Meeusen
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Physical Education and Physiotherapy, Advanced Rehabilitation Technology and Science (ARTS), Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium Centre for Neurosciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kerckhofs
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena / Q000502:physiology; D001835:Body Weight; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology; D006615:Hip / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D060726:Torso / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*; D016474:Weight-Bearing; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Body weight support; gait; gait analysis; kinematics; multiple sclerosis; pelvis; rehabilitation; treadmill; trunk; walking