Comparative Study of Mobility and Perceived Exertion for the Wheeled Knee Walker and Axillary Crutches in Healthy Participants

Category:OtherIntroduction/Purpose:Functional limitations are common after lower extremity surgery and often require the use of an assistive device for ambulation during rehabilitation and recovery. There is no known data evaluating the wheeled knee walker (WKW) as an assistive device for postoperative protected ambulation. The purpose of this study is to compare mobility and perceived exertion in the WKW and the axillary crutch (AC) in healthy volunteers.Methods:This is a cross sectional study of the WKW and the AC that was performed on 24 healthy volunteers utilizing the Six- Minute Walk Test (6MWT). The participants were randomized into two separate arms, one starting with the AC (N=12) and one starting with the WKW (N=12). A modified version of the American Thoracic Society (ATS) Guidelines for the 6MWT was performed for both assistive devices on all subjects. Pre-activity and post-activity heart rates were recorded for both events. From the 6MWT data the values for the Self Selected Walking Velocity ...