Effect of arm swaying from wearing a self-applied arm sling with a loop on walking and other mobility skills.
Shiori Kakae, Akiyoshi Takami, Misato Makino and 1 others
PMID 33132521WHAT IT FOUND
Elderly participants could put on a looped arm sling alone, but not a triangular bandage.
Walking speed and sit-to-stand times did not differ significantly. The bandage increased step rate and arm sway during standing up, suggesting it creates more discomfort.
Key findings
01All participants were able to put on the arm sling with loop without assistance, while none could do so with the triangular bandage.
02Wearing the triangular bandage resulted in a significantly higher step rate compared to not wearing any support.
03During the sit-to-stand test, wearing the triangular bandage caused significantly greater front/back arm acceleration compared to the arm sling with loop.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study was conducted on healthy elderly individuals, not stroke patients with hemiplegia or shoulder subluxation, so the results may not apply to the target clinical population. The sample size was small (n=15 initially, n=13-14 analyzed). One participant dropped out due to low back pain. The use of armrests during the sit-to-stand test may have masked differences in performance time.
Declared interests
There are no conflicts of interest to disclose.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume these findings apply to stroke patients with shoulder subluxation. The study used healthy elderly individuals, and the authors explicitly state that the results should be applied with caution and do not prove the arm sling is advantageous for the clinical population.