Article

Individuals with lower extremity fractures are often instructed on
how much weight to bear on the affected extremity. Previous studies have shown
limited therapy compliance in weight bearing during rehabilitation. In this study
we investigated the effect of real-time visual biofeedback on weight bearing in
individuals with lower extremity fractures in two conditions:
full weight bearing
and touch-down weight bearing. METHODS: 11 participants with full weight bearing
and 12 participants with touch-down weight bearing after lower extremity
fractures have been measured with an ambulatory biofeedback system. The
participants first walked 15m and the biofeedback system was only used to
register the weight bearing. The same protocol was then repeated with real-time
visual feedback during weight bearing. The participants could thereby adapt their
loading to the desired level and improve therapy compliance. RESULTS: In
participants with full weight bearing, real-time visual biofeedback resulted in a
significant increase in loading from 50.9+/-7.51% bodyweight (BW) without
feedback to 63.2+/-6.74%BW with feedback (P=0.0016). In participants with
touch-down weight bearing, the exerted lower extremity load decreased from
16.7+/-9.77kg without feedback to 10.27+/-4.56kg with feedback (P=0.0718). More
important, the variance between individual steps significantly decreased after
feedback (P=0.018). CONCLUSIONS: Ambulatory monitoring weight bearing after lower
extremity fractures showed that therapy compliance is low, both in full and
touch-down weight bearing. Real-time visual biofeedback resulted in significantly
higher peak loads in full weight bearing and increased accuracy of individual
steps in touch-down weight bearing. Real-time visual biofeedback therefore
results in improved therapy compliance after lower extremity fractures.
CI - Copyright (c) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS