Abstract
Objectives
To primarily explore the proportion and factors relating to failure on an obstacle
crossing task in ambulatory participants with incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI);
and to compare balance ability between participants who passed and failed on an obstacle
crossing task.
Design
Cross-sectional design.
Setting
Tertiary rehabilitation center.
Participants
Independent ambulatory participants with an iSCI (N=113).
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
Primary outcomes were the ability to walk over small obstacles of sizes that are commonly
found in homes and communities and factors relating to failure on an obstacle crossing
task. The secondary outcome was the data from the timed Up and Go (TUG) test.
Results
Of the participants, 33 failed to walk over an obstacle. Using a walker significantly
increased chance of failure, whereas having incomplete paraplegia and American Spinal
Injury Association Impairment Scale grade D were the protective factors for the event
(P≤.01). The number of failures was also significantly increased because of leg contact
with a wide or relative large obstacle (4 and 8cm, P<.001). Furthermore, participants who failed required significantly longer time to
complete the TUG test than those who passed an obstacle crossing task (P<.001).
Conclusions
Apart from the ability of independent walking, rehabilitation professionals may need
to emphasize the ability of movement modification of the lower extremities and balance
control to improve safety issues for the patients.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
AIS (American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale), iSCI (incomplete spinal cord injury), SCI (spinal cord injury), TUG (timed Up and Go)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: August 20, 2014
Footnotes
Supported by the Improvement of Physical Performance and Quality of Life Research Group, Faculty of Associated Medical Science; and Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand.
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2015 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
