Intro to gait Flashcards
How does walking and gait change through the life span
-as a kid it is hard too balance because the head is a large percentage of our weight
-as an adult you have a better walking pattern and balance
-in the elderly, posture changes to a forward and flexed posture and they take smaller strides.
What are requirements for gait
-to balance HAT in erect posture
-transfer HAT from one LE to the other
-lift each LE and move it forward
-coordination
-balance
-kinesthetic and proprioceptive senses
-integrity of joints and muscles
What are the tasks involved in walking
-weight acceptance: the leg has two hold the body
-single limb support: this way the other limb can advance
-swing limb advancement
Tasks for ambulation (what is required to happen for normal gait)
-maintenance of support of HAT against gravity
-maintenance of upright posture and balance (spine, head and hip position)
-control of foot trajectory: straight in front
Ways to analyze gait
-cinematography: videos and pictures
electrogoniometry: track ROM
force plate: look at ground contact
EMG: what muscles are active
observations
What is 1 gait cycle
right heel contact to the next right heel contact
OR
left heel contact to the next left heel contact
What is right step length
right heel to left heel (1/2 the stride)
what is left step length
left heel to right heel (1/2 the stride)
stride
distance from right heel to right heel
foot angle
how much toe out there is
-measured from the line of progression to the 2nd toe (the angle)
what is step width
distance between heel contracts o left and right (BOS)
What happens to the gait generally where one limb is in pain
decrease time in stance on that LE which affects how far the opposite LE can step
-decrease step length for opposite side
What happens generally to gait for a hemiparesis patient
cannot advance involved side or stand on involved side
-decrease step length on both sides
What happens generally to gait in Parkinson’s patients
not a lot of single leg stance
-shuffle feet
What are the time or temporal variables of gait
-stance time
-single support time
-double support time
-stride time
-cadence
-walking speed
-acceleration
Stance time
amount of time the LE is in the stance phase
-in total about 60%
single support time
total amount of time reference leg is in stance with the other LE in the swing phase
-COM is at its highest
-about 40% of the time
Double support time
Total amount of time reference leg is in stance phase with the other LE not in the swing phase
-COM is lowest
-about 20% of the time
Stride time
0-88-1.2 seconds ~ 1 second for a normal gait cycle
(time of one gait cycle)
Step time
0-44-0.6 seconds
-should be about half the time of the stride time
cadence
1.87 steps/sec (100 steps/min)
-how many contacts per second
-females tend to be quicker and males tend to take longer steps.
walking speed
1.37 m/sec (3mph)
acceleration
change in speed/direction
How can you get more speed with your gait
more speed can be achieved by bringing the weight closer to the joint axis
-the body does this by increasing hip, knee and dorsiflexion
