Affiliations: [a] UNESP, São Paulo State University at Rio Claro, LEPLO, São Paulo, Brazil | [b] Research Institute MOVE, Faculty of Human Movement Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Correspondence:
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Address for correspondence: Prof. Fabio Augusto Barbieri, Universidade Estadual Paulista, UNESP, IB, Rio Claro, Laboratório de Estudos da Postura e da Locomoção, Departamento de Educação Física, Avenida 24-A, 1515, Bela Vista, CEP: 13.506-900-Rio Claro, São Paulo, Brasil. Tel.: +55 19 3526 4320; Fax: +55 19 3534 6436; E-mail: barbieri_rc@hotmail.com
Abstract: Purpose:This systematic review aimed to assess changes on spatiotemporal gait parameters due to fatigue. Material and Method:A search was carried out in literature published from 1950 to December 2010 and retrieved 771 articles using terms referring to walking and fatigue in the title, abstract or keywords. Two researchers assessed the selection and quality of each article independently. Results:Seven studies were selected for this systematic review, two of which reported on the same data set. Several spatiotemporal parameters were reported to change with fatigue, but the few variables studied in multiple studies, gait speed and stride or step length and stride time, were affected only in single studies. Fatigue appears to modulate spatiotemporal gait parameters, but the effects of fatigue appear to be dependent on the muscles that were fatigued, and age that appears to be a moderator of the effects of fatigue on gait.
Keywords: Gait, muscle fatigue, spatiotemporal parameters, motor control
