• Physical Therapy Korea
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.67-76
• /
• 1999

Going up and down the stairs is a repeated task in the activities of daily living. These activities are needed during the recovery process with impaired lower limbs. This paper presents the difference of EEI (energy expenditure index) through the slope of stairs. Twenty-one normal young adults took a part in this study (11 males, 10 females). They stepped up and down the stairs which had two different slopes for 5 minutes. Resting heart rate, walking heart rate, and moving distance were recorded. EEI was calculated from the heart rate and moving speed which was calculated by the distance of movement. Data were analyzed by repeated two-way ANOVA with SAS program and the difference of EEI through the slope of stairs was not statistically significant (p=0.9971). The results show that EEI was not affected by the slope of stairs in normal people. But distance of movement (p=0.0067) and speed (p=0.0064) had a significant difference.

• Journal of Korean Physical Therapy Science
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.7-16
• /
• 2003

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of Treadmill Training with FES(TTF) on walking velocity, gait endurance, and energy expenditure index(EEI) of hemiplegia patients with foot drop. Two subjects with hemiplegia participated in this study. They took walking excercise 5 times per week for 8 weeks. One time excercise spent 30minutes. The theraputic effect was evaluated by how many seconds they needed to walk 10 meters, how far they could walk for 12 minutes, and how much they spent energy in walking for 12 minutes. Two cases were examined before, after 4 week, and after 8 week, walking training. The results of this study are as follows; 1) Walking velocity : Case 1 increased from 0.52m/sec before walking training to 0.83m/sec after 8 weeks. Case 2 increased from 0.58m/sec to 0.92m/sec. 2) Gait endurance : Case 1 increased from 383.23m to 625.53m. Case 2 increased from 410.19m to 693.47m. 3) EEI : For comfortable walking condition, Case 1 decreased from 0.98beats/min to 0.71beats/min, and Case 2 decreased from 0.93beats/min to 0.68beats/min. For maximum walking condition, Case 1 decreased from 0.93beats/min to 0.67beats/min, and Case 2 decreased from 0.91beats/min to 0.61beats/min. The findings suggest that hemiplegia patients can improve their walking velocity, gait endurance and energy expenditure index through TTF.

• Physical Therapy Korea
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.35-42
• /
• 2006

The walker provides stability for walking for people whose lower extremities are disabled. It is important to measure and determine the appropriate height of a walker to conserve energy and to improve function. The purposes of this study were to examine effects of walker height and gait velocity on triceps, latissimus dorsi muscle activation, and energy expenditure index (EEI) during ambulation with a walker. Fifteen healthy subjects participated in this study. Each subject was assigned a walker with one of three heights (high, standard, lower height) and of two gait velocities (comfortable gait velocity or fast gait velocity). Electromyographic data were collected from triceps and latissimus dorsi, and EEI was determined from each condition. Two-way repeated analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the statistical significance. Post hoc comparison was performed with the Bonferroni test. The results of this study were summarized as follows: 1. There was a significant difference in the %MVIC of triceps among different walker height factors. Post hoc comparison revealed that %MVIC of dominant triceps brachii was more significantly increased in patients who used the higher walker than those who used the lower walker (p<.05). 2. There were significant differences in the %MVIC of the latissimus dorsi among different walker height factors and gait velocity factors. Post hoc comparison revealed that the %MVIC of dominant latissimus dorsi was also more significantly increased in patients who used the higher walker than those who used the lower walker (p<.05) and in those who used the faster gait velocity than those who used the slower gait velocity (p<.05). 3. There were significant differences in the EEI among different walker height factors and gait velocity factors. Post hoc comparison revealed that the EEI was significantly increased among those who used higher and lower walkers compared with the standard walker. The EEI was also more significantly increased among those who used the fast gait velocity than those who used the slower gait velocity (p<.05). It has been concluded that increased muscle activation in triceps and latissimus dorsi was required when the walker height increased and that more energy was exp ended when the gait velocity increased. Therefore, from the findings of this study, it is recommended that walker height be adjusted according to the purposes of gait training and that healthy subjects conserve energy when ambulating with standard walkers in a comfortable gait velocity.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.11 no.10
• /
• pp.3826-3832
• /
• 2010

This study was aimed at determining the effect of virtual reality(VR) based exercise programs on energy expenditure during gait in chronic stroke patients. Thirty-two stroke patients were participated for this study. They underwent stroke for more than 6 months and were assigned to a VR-exercise group (n=16) or a control group (n=16). The VR-exercise group executed a rehabilitation exercise three times a week during 6 weeks. The VR-exercise was performed by PS2 for one hour. Control group maintained their usual life without application of exercise. Energy expenditure index(EEI) during gait was calculated from heart rate and gait velocity. After the completion of the VR-exercise, the EEI was decreased significantly (p<0.05). These results showed that the rehabilitation exercise using a virtual reality is effective in the improvement of energy efficiency during gait in chronic stroke patients.