Comparisons of the gait parameters of young Korean women carrying a single-strap bag

This study compared the gait parameters of young women using various methods to carry a single-strap bag during walking. Twenty-one Korean healthy women walked on a GAITRite-instrumented carpet at a self-paced speed for each of the four following conditions in random order: no bag, carrying a bag over the shoulder, carrying a bag on the forearm, and carrying a bag by the hand on the dominant (right) side. There was a significant reduction in the stride length for the contralateral leg when carrying a bag on the forearm, a significant decrease in the heel-to-heel base of support, and a significant increase in the toe angle on the ipsilateral leg when carrying a bag by hand. The results of our study suggest that, among the asymmetric bag-carrying methods preferred by Korean young women during walking, the "over-the-shoulder" method has the least effect on gait parameters relative to not carrying a bag.