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Author ORCID Identifier
AccessType
Open Access Dissertation
Document Type
dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Degree Program
Kinesiology
Year Degree Awarded
2019
Month Degree Awarded
May
First Advisor
Brian R. Umberger
Second Advisor
Richard van Emmerik
Third Advisor
Jane Kent
Fourth Advisor
Frank C. Sup
Subject Categories
Biomechanics | Motor Control
Abstract
It is generally accepted that metabolic energy expenditure and gait stability are key factors that influence the selection of able-bodied locomotor patterns. It is unclear how energy expenditure and gait stability are prioritized during walking in people with lower limb amputation. People with lower limb amputation generally have greater metabolic energy expenditure during walking and increased incidence of falls. People with unilateral lower limb amputation spend more time on the intact limb compared with the prosthetic limb, while able-bodied individuals generally walk with symmetrical timing between limbs. Restoring symmetry is often a goal of rehabilitation and assistive devices, yet the gait differences for people with unilateral amputation relative to able-bodied walkers could in fact be optimal for metabolic energy expenditure and stability. The purpose of this dissertation was to determine how metabolic energy expenditure and gait stability are affected by inter-limb gait asymmetry in people with and without unilateral transtibial amputation. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first set of studies to have people with amputation walk with preferred (i.e., asymmetrical) and non-preferred (i.e., symmetrical and greater asymmetry) inter-limb stance timing in order to understand how metabolic energy expenditure and gait stability are affected by asymmetry. Results from the first study found that subjects with amputation walked with more time on intact side compared with the prosthetic side, while able-bodied subjects walked with near symmetry (
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/14162705
Recommended Citation
Wedge, Ryan, "Metabolic Cost and Stability of Locomotion in People with Lower Limb Amputation" (2019). Doctoral Dissertations. 1589.
https://doi.org/10.7275/14162705
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2/1589