Physical therapy
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Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Is base of support greater in unsteady gait?
We investigated dynamic interfoot distance (IFD) throughout the gait cycle in people with unsteady gait caused by vestibulopathy and in people without known neuromuscular pathology. We expected that the subjects with unsteady gait would use a greater IFD than subjects without neuromuscular pathology and that this IFD would be correlated with other measures of locomotor stability. ⋯ Gait at preferred speed permitted the unsteady subjects and the comparison subjects to select similar IFD values, but at the cost of slower gait in the unsteady subjects. When required to walk at a "normal" pace of 120 steps/min, subjects with vestibulopathy increased their IFD. These data suggest that wide-based gait alone cannot differentiate between subjects with and without balance impairments. Base of support and other whole-body kinematic variables are mechanical compensations of vestibulopathic instability. Further studies are needed to determine whether development of active control of these whole-body control variables can occur after vestibular rehabilitation.