Effects of cane use on walking parameters and lower limb muscle activity in adults with spastic cerebral palsy: a cross-sectional study.
Takahito Inoue, Yui Sato, Kotaro Shimizu and 3 others
PMID 34219962WHAT IT FOUND
Walking with two canes slowed adults with cerebral palsy compared to walking unaided.
However, it also reduced lower limb muscle activity. Muscle coactivation patterns did not change, suggesting the cane reduces physical burden but does not alter underlying motor control strategies.
Key findings
01Walking speed and stride time significantly changed when using two canes compared to no cane, with speed decreasing and stride time increasing.
02Activity in all four measured lower limb muscles (rectus femoris, biceps femoris, tibialis anterior, gastrocnemius) was significantly lower when walking with two canes compared to no cane.
03The coactivation index, which measures how agonist and antagonist muscles fire together, showed no significant difference between walking unaided, with one cane, or with two canes.
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 (11 participants). Most participants (8/11) did not use canes in daily life, so unfamiliarity may have affected walking speed and muscle patterns. Cross-sectional design cannot determine long-term effects or adaptations to cane use. Walking speed decreased with two canes, making it difficult to separate the effect of the cane from the effect of walking slower on muscle activity.
Declared interests
No funding or conflicts of interest declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that reduced muscle activity means the cane fixes the motor control problem. The study showed that coactivation patterns did not change, meaning the underlying issue with how muscles work together remained the same.