Article

Orthopedic patients are often instructed on how much weight to bear on an injured
or postoperative extremity. Although specific weight-bearing instructions are
given to a majority of lower-extremity orthopedic patients, the ability of
patients to comply with these instructions is questioned in the medical
literature. This study compared the effectiveness of new forms of clinical
interventions designed to train patients on weight bearing, focusing on the use
of biofeedback devices designed to offer real-time feedback to partial
weight-bearing patients. Twenty healthy patients aged 20 to 30 years completed 3
interventions: (1) verbal instructions on weight bearing, (2) training with a
bathroom scale, and (3) training with a biofeedback device.Patients given
touchdown weight-bearing instructions (25 lb) initially bore an average of
63.57+/-6.24 lb when given verbal instructions. This was reduced to 44.75+/-5.69
lb after training with a bathroom scale (P<.001), and was further reduced to
26.2+/-1.57 lb with biofeedback training (P=.011). Likewise, patients given
partial weight-bearing instructions (75 lb) initially bore an average of
92.28+/-7.85 lb. No improvement occurred with the use of a bathroom scale (at 75
lb), which showed an average of 90.82+/-7.19 lb (P=1.000). Training with a
biofeedback device improved the average weight bearing to 69.67+/-3.18 lb
(P=.014).Biofeedback training led to superior compliance with touchdown and
partial weight-bearing instructions. Because partial weight-bearing instructions
are commonly given to orthopedic patients, training with such a device may be
appropriately considered.
CI - Copyright 2012, SLACK Incorporated.

Langue : ANGLAIS

Tiré à part : OUI