Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 10, 2025
Quantifying Arms and Legs Contributions during Repetitive Electrically-Assisted Sit-To-Stand Exercise in Paraplegics: A Pilot Study
Published on: November 11, 2022
Upper extremity effort during the sit-to-stand task in able-bodied and in individuals with spinal cord injury: A
Claudiane Arakaki Fukuchi1,2, Isadora Oliveira Leal1, Reginaldo Kisho Fukuchi3
1Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Campinas - UNICAMP, São Paulo, Brazil.
Objective:
To investigate the association between the presence of spinal cord injury (SCI) on biomechanical variables by comparing individuals with SCI and able-bodied individuals during the sit-to-stand (STS) task assisted by a walker device. Specifically, we compared the upper-extremity joint angles and moments, trunk forward tilt angle, vertical forces of the instrumented walker, and ground reaction forces between groups.
Design:
Case-control study.
Setting:
Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology, UNICAMP-Brazil.
Participants:
Six individuals with SCI and fourteen able-bodied individuals.
Main Outcome Measures:
Kinematics and kinetics of the shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints; trunk forward tilt angle, vertical walker forces, and ground reaction forces (GRF) were analyzed during the STS task in two phases: before and after the seat-off event.
Results:
A higher peak elbow flexion angle and higher vertical walker forces were observed before the seat-off, whereas the lower peak vertical GRF was found, after the seat-off, in the SCI group compared with the control group.
Conclusions:
SCI affects kinematics and kinetics variables during the STS task compared to able-bodied controls. Individuals with SCI adopted different standing-up strategies that affected the distribution of the forces in the upper and lower extremities of the human body.
