Gait adaptation during walking on an inclined pathway following spinal cord injury

Individuals with incomplete spinal cord injury need to be assessed in different environments. The objective of this study was to compare lower-limb power generation in subjects with spinal cord injury and healthy subjects while walking on an inclined pathway.

Eleven subjects with spinal cord injury and eleven healthy subjects walked on an inclined pathway at their natural gait speed and at slow gait speed (healthy subjects only). Ground reaction forces were recorded by force plates embedded in the inclined pathway and a 3-D motion analysis system recorded lower-limb motions. Data analysis included gait cycle parameters and joint peak powers. Differences were identified by student t-tests.

Gait cycle parameters were lower in spinal cord injury subjects compared to healthy subjects at natural speed but similar at slow gait speed. Subjects with spinal cord injury presented lower power at the ankle, knee and hip compared to healthy subjects at natural gait speed while only the power generation at push-off remained lower when the two groups performed at similar speed.

The most important differences are associated with the fact that individuals with spinal cord injury walk at a slower speed, except for the ankle power generation. This study demonstrated that, even with a good motor recovery, distal deficits remain and may limit the ability to adapt to uphill and downhill walking. Inclined pathways are indicated to train patients with spinal cord injury. Clinicians should focus on the speed of uphill and downhill walking and on the use of plantar flexors.