Usefulness of footprint-sequence analysis in lower-limb amputees

Clinicians evaluated the usefulness of footprint-sequence analysis in 25 lower-limb amputees who were all prostheses wearers. The patients walked at a comfortable speed with their usual walking aids along a 2.24-m footprint-recording strip. Each patient's physical therapist and physician indicated on visual-analogue scales how useful they judged both raw and derived data to be in problem solving and as documentation for future comparison. Both groups of clinicians found this type of analysis moderately useful. We found no significant difference, but moderate correlation (r = .61, p less than .01), between their estimates of usefulness for problem solving and for future documentation. They considered the derived data slightly, but significantly, more useful than the raw data (t = 4.20, p less than .001). We found no significant difference or correlation between the estimates of physical therapists and those of physicians. The clinicians ranked pressure distribution, stride width, step length, foot angle, and stride length in order of perceived usefulness. Footprint-sequence analysis appears to be a moderately useful adjunct to the evaluation and documentation of the walking problems of lower-limb amputees. Both raw and derived data should be made available to the physical therapists and physicians caring for these patients.