Assessment of gait patterns in breast cancer survivors: a cross-sectional study.
Chiara Notarstefano, Valentina Azzollini, Mirella Ferrari and 5 others
PMID 41410551WHAT IT FOUND
Breast cancer survivors walked slower with shorter steps and a wider base than healthy women.
These gait changes appeared within 12 months of surgery, suggesting early rehabilitation could help prevent mobility decline.
Key findings
01Survivors had significantly reduced walking velocity, cadence, step length, and stride length, plus increased step width, stance duration, and double support time compared to healthy controls.
02Gait alterations were already present in survivors who had surgery less than 12 months prior, with no significant difference between those treated recently and those treated longer ago.
03While the operated side showed more pronounced deficits in step length and width, stride length and stance duration were impaired on both sides, suggesting global gait changes.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
Small sample size (23 survivors, 16 controls) with no formal power calculation. Participants were referred to a rehabilitation service, meaning they likely had more severe functional impairments than the general survivor population. Heterogeneous surgical and adjuvant treatments were included without stratification. No direct assessment of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) was performed, so its contribution to gait changes is unknown. Lack of preoperative gait data means it is unclear if some alterations existed before cancer treatment.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume these gait patterns apply to all breast cancer survivors. The study included patients referred to rehabilitation who likely had more severe impairments, and the small sample size limits generalizability to survivors with better function or those not in a clinical setting.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →