The effect of uphill and downhill walking on gait parameters: A self-paced treadmill study |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Center of Advanced Technologies in Rehabilitation, Sheba Medical Center, Ramat Gan, Israel;2. Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel;3. Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel;1. Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder, 354 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309, United States;2. Eastern Colorado Healthcare System, Department of Veterans Affairs, United States;1. Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC;2. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, WanFang Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC;3. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, School of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC;4. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC;1. Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado Boulder, 354 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309, United States;2. Eastern Colorado Healthcare System, Department of Veterans Affairs, Denver, CO, United States;1. Human Movement Research Center (CIMOHU), Universidad de Costa Rica, Costa Rica;2. Engineering Research Institute (INII), Universidad de Costa Rica, Costa Rica;1. Institute of Biomedical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taiwan, ROC;2. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, School of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taiwan, ROC;3. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taiwan, ROC;4. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Wan-Fang Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan, ROC;1. Department of Physical Therapy, School of Physical Education, Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil;2. Department of Physical Therapy and Athletic Training, College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences: Sargent College, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA;3. John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA;4. The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Cambridge, MA, USA |
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| Abstract: | It has been shown that gait parameters vary systematically with the slope of the surface when walking uphill (UH) or downhill (DH) (Andriacchi et al., 1977; Crowe et al., 1996; Kawamura et al., 1991; Kirtley et al., 1985; McIntosh et al., 2006; Sun et al., 1996). However, gait trials performed on inclined surfaces have been subject to certain technical limitations including using fixed speed treadmills (TMs) or, alternatively, sampling only a few gait cycles on inclined ramps. Further, prior work has not analyzed upper body kinematics. This study aims to investigate effects of slope on gait parameters using a self-paced TM (SPTM) which facilitates more natural walking, including measuring upper body kinematics and gait coordination parameters.Gait of 11 young healthy participants was sampled during walking in steady state speed. Measurements were made at slopes of +10°, 0° and −10°. Force plates and a motion capture system were used to reconstruct twenty spatiotemporal gait parameters. For validation, previously described parameters were compared with the literature, and novel parameters measuring upper body kinematics and bilateral gait coordination were also analyzed.Results showed that most lower and upper body gait parameters were affected by walking slope angle. Specifically, UH walking had a higher impact on gait kinematics than DH walking. However, gait coordination parameters were not affected by walking slope, suggesting that gait asymmetry, left-right coordination and gait variability are robust characteristics of walking. The findings of the study are discussed in reference to a potential combined effect of slope and gait speed. Follow-up studies are needed to explore the relative effects of each of these factors. |
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| Keywords: | Biomechanics Virtual reality Gait parameters Inclined walking Motor function Self-paced walking |
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