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Does increased prosthetic weight affect gait speed and patient preference in dysvascular transfemoral amputees?
Ben Meikle1, Chris Boulias, Tim Pauley
1St. John's Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada. bmeikle@sthohnsrehab.com
Objectives:
To determine if increased prosthetic weight affects gait speed in dysvascular transfemoral amputees and to see if there is any patient preference for lighter versus heavier prostheses.
Design:
Randomized prospective double-blind crossover trial.
Setting:
Outpatient, tertiary care, amputee clinic in Ontario, Canada.
Participants:
A convenience sample of 10 subjects with unilateral transfemoral amputations because of peripheral vascular disease. All subjects were independent community ambulators over 50 years old.
Intervention:
Seemingly identical weights of 150g (placebo weight), 770g, and 1625g were added to the prosthesis 14cm below the knee joint.
Main Outcome Measures:
Two-minute walk test (2MWT) and subject preference.
Results:
The 2MWT results were not significantly influenced by weight added (mean, 53.4+/-28.4m, 55.1+/-28.9m, and 52.8+/-26.7m for 150g, 770g, and 1625g of added weight, respectively). Subject preference revealed that more than half preferred a weighted prosthesis over the "placebo" weight (5 subjects preferred 770g added, 4 subjects preferred 150g added, 1 preferred 1625g added).
Conclusions:
Short-term intervention with increased prosthetic mass had no significant adverse affect on gait speed, and more than half of the subjects preferred an added mass condition.
