Affiliations: [a] Department of Orthotics and Prosthetics, Rehabilitation Faculty, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran | [b] Physical Education Department, Isfahan University, Isfahan, Iran
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Mohammad Karimi, Department of Orthotics and Prosthetics, Rehabilitation Faculty, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. E-mail:mohammad.karimi.bioengineering@gmail.com
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Stability is the ability of subjects to keep his body
in a stable position and has an ability to return from an unstable to a
stable position. Although the stability of spinal cord injury (SCI)
individuals has been evaluated in some research studies during quiet
standing, none of them can be used to predict risk of falling, due to lack
of relationship between static and dynamic stability. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the stability of
SCI during walking. METHODS: Three groups of normal subjects, complete SCI walking
with orthosis, and incomplete SCI participated in this study. Their dynamic
stability was evaluated based on the motion of center of mass (COM) in the
mediolateral and vertical directions normalized to the width of base of
support and leg length, respectively. Two sample tests were used to evaluate
the dynamic stability of the participants. RESULTS: There was a significant difference between the excursion
of COM in vertical direction between normal, complete and incomplete SCI
subjects (P-value < 0.05). However the difference between the COM movements in
the mediolateral direction was not significant. The width of base of support
of complete SCI was nearly two times more than that of normal subjects. CONCLUSIONS: SCI individuals increased their walking stability in
mediolateral direction by increasing the base of support. The greatest
movement of COM in vertical direction in SCI was due to specific gait
strategy employed by SCI subjects. SCI subjects decrease their walking speed
as a main strategy to improve their dynamic stability.
