the impact of different types of assistive devices on gait measures and safety in huntingtons disease不同类型的辅助设备的影响在亨廷顿氏舞蹈症步态和安全措施.pdf

The Impact of Different Types of Assistive Devices on Gait Measures and Safety in Huntington’s Disease 1. 1 . 2 3,4 Anne D. Kloos , Deborah A. Kegelmeyer * , Susan E. White , Sandra K. Kostyk 1 Division of Physical Therapy, The Ohio State College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America, 2 Division of Health Information Management and Systems, The Ohio State College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus Ohio, United States of America, 3 Department of Neurology, The Ohio State College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus Ohio, United States of America, 4 Department of Neuroscience, The Ohio State College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America Abstract Background: Gait and balance impairments lead to frequent falls and injuries in individuals with Huntington’s disease (HD). Assistive devices (ADs) such as canes and walkers are often prescribed to prevent falls, but their efficacy is unknown. We systematically examined the effects of different types of ADs on quantitative gait measures during walking in a straight path and around obstacles. Methods: Spatial and temporal gait parameters were measured in 21 subjects with HD as they walked across a GAITRite walkway under 7 conditions (i.e., using no AD and 6 commonly prescribed ADs: a cane, a weighted cane, a standard walker, and a 2, 3 or 4 wheeled walker). Subjects also were timed and observed for number of stumbles and falls while walking around two obstacles in a figure-of-eight pattern. Results: Gait measure variability (i.e., coefficient of variation), an indicator of fall risk, was consistently better when using the 4WW compared to other ADs. Subjects also walked the fastest and had t