title: Does long-distance walking improve or deteriorate walking stability of transtibial amputees?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Falls are common in transtibial amputees which are linked to their poor stability. While amputees are encouraged to walk more, they are more vulnerable to fatigue which leads to even poorer walking stability. The objective of this study was to evaluate the dynamic stability of amputees after long-distance walking.
  
  
  METHODS
  Six male unilateral transtibial amputees (age: 53 (SD: 8.8); height: 170cm (SD: 3.4); weight: 75kg (SD: 4.7)) performed two sessions (30minutes each) of treadmill walking, separated by a short period of gait tests. Gait tests were performed before the walking (baseline) and after each session of treadmill walking. Gait parameters and their variability across repeated steps at each of the three conditions were computed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no significant differences in walking speed, step length, stance time, time of occurrence, and magnitude of peak angular velocities of the knee and hip joint (P>0.05). However, variability of knee and hip angular velocity after 30-minute walking was significantly higher than the baseline (P<0.05) and after a total of 60-minute walking (P<0.05). The variability of lateral sway velocity after 30-minute walking was significantly higher than the baseline (P<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The significant increase in variability after 30-minute walking could indicate poorer walking stability when fatigue was developed, while the significant reduction after 60-minute walking might indicate the ability of amputees to restore their walking stability after further continuous walking.
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Division of Biomedical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Duo Wai-Chi
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.affiliation: Li Ning Sports Science Research Centre, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Wing Kai
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Division of Biomedical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: L F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Yeung
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary Division of Biomedical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China. Electronic address: winson.lee@polyu.edu.hk.
authors.forename: Winson C C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls; D000328:Adult; D000674:Amputees; D001186:Artificial Limbs; D005080:Exercise Test; D005221:Fatigue; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D006621:Hip Joint / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013977:Tibia / Q000502:physiology*; D016138:Walking
keywords: Amputees; Fall; Fatigue; Gait; Prosthetics; Variability; Walking stability