HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Rapid Responses are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kirby, R L. Articles by Creaser, G. A Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kirby, R L. Articles by Creaser, G. A Social Bookmarking                      What's this?

Usefulness of Footprint-Sequence Analysis in Lower-Limb Amputees

Dr. Kirby is Associate Professor, Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Dalhousie University, c/o Nova Scotia Rehabilitation Centre, 1341 Summer St, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4K4 (Canada).
Mrs. Stewart-Gray, at the time of this study, was Staff Physical Therapist with the Department of Physiotherapy and the Clinical Locomotor Function Laboratory of the Nova Scotia Rehabilitation Centre. She is currently with the Arthritis Society Home Care Physiotherapy Program in Shelburne, Nova Scotia.
Miss Creaser is Staff Physical Therapist with the Department of Physiotherapy and the Clinical Locomotor Function Laboratory of the Nova Scotia Rehabilitation Centre.

Clinicians evaluated the usefulness of footprint-sequence analysis in 25 lower-limb amputees who were all prostheses wearers. The patients walked at a comfortable speed with their usual walking aids along a 2.24-m footprint-recording strip. Each patient's physical therapist and physician indicated on visual-analogue scales how useful they judged both raw and derived data to be in problem solving and as documentation for future comparison. Both groups of clinicians found this type of analysis moderately useful. We found no significant difference, but moderate correlation (r = .61, p < .01), between their estimates of usefulness for problem solving and for future documentation. They considered the derived data slightly, but significantly, more useful than the raw data (t = 4.20, p < .001). We found no significant difference or correlation between the estimates of physical therapists and those of physicians. The clinicians ranked pressure distribution, stride width, step length, foot angle, and stride length in order of perceived usefulness. Footprint-sequence analysis appears to be a moderately useful adjunct to the evaluation and documentation of the walking problems of lower-limb amputees. Both raw and derived data should be made available to the physical therapists and physicians caring for these patients.

Key Words: Amputees • Gait • Physical therapy

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. Porter and V.C. Roberts Review article : A review of gait assessment in the lower limb amputee Part 1: Temporal and kinematic analysis Clinical Rehabilitation, February 1, 1989; 3(1): 65 - 74. [PDF]