Differential deficits in spatial and temporal interlimb coordination during walking in persons with incomplete spinal cord injury.
Yann Thibaudier, Andrew Q Tan, Denise M Peters and 1 others
PMID 31675554WHAT IT FOUND
Walking in incomplete spinal cord injury showed separate step-length and step-time coordination problems.
Step-length asymmetry was associated with slower walking and a walking function score; step-time asymmetry only with the function score. Walker users had greater step-length asymmetry.
Key findings
01Persons with incomplete spinal cord injury had greater step-length asymmetry and greater step-time asymmetry than able-bodied controls.
02Greater step-length asymmetry was associated with slower 10-meter walk time and with a walking function score, but not with 6-minute walk endurance.
03Walker users had greater step-length asymmetry than non-walker users, while step-time asymmetry and coordination indices did not differ between those groups.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study included only 16 persons with incomplete spinal cord injury and 11 controls, so the findings are limited. Most participants were higher functioning, with 14 of 16 classified as AIS D, so it may not apply to more severe incomplete injury. The assistive-device comparison only separated walker users from non-walker users, with 7 walker users and 9 non-walker users. The incomplete spinal cord injury group walked about 58% slower than controls, and asymmetry can be greater at slower speeds. The study did not assess frontal plane interlimb asymmetries.
Declared interests
NIH extramural research support; no commercial funding or author conflicts of interest are reported in the supplied text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the associations as proof that correcting step-length asymmetry will improve walking speed. This was a comparison of 16 persons with incomplete spinal cord injury and 11 able-bodied controls, not a treatment trial.