Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Effects Of Leg Length Discrepancy On Gait And Balance, Colin E. Dombroski

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Leg length discrepancy is a condition shown to affect 25-70% of the general population. The ubiquitous nature of leg length discrepancy can prove frustrating to many clinicians, particularly due to lack of consensus surrounding the amount of discrepancy that necessitates treatment.

The present research is intended to address the uncertainty surrounding diagnostic and treatment thresholds, through three related studies. In the first study, leg length discrepancy was manipulated in a sample of 15 healthy young adults, using a novel heel-to-toe lift (creating discrepancies of 5mm, 20mm, and 30mm), and the effects of this new discrepancy was observed on the spatial-temporal …

Fatigue And Mobility Post-Stroke, Svetlana Knorr

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Fatigue post-stroke is a disabling and persistent symptom affecting many stroke survivors. Despite its high prevalence, the pathophysiology underlying this phenomenon remains obscure. Thus, the aim of this thesis was to study the neuromuscular basis underlying fatigue post-stroke and its association with self-reported fatigue and with the performance of tasks incorporating balance and mobility components.

Community-dwelling stroke survivors who had mild to moderate deficits in functional balance and mobility participated in a series of investigations. Chapter 2 describes the initial validation of the Community Balance and Mobility (CB&M) scale for use in persons with chronic stroke. Chapter 3 reported the …

Walk Softly And Carry A Big Stick: Strategies To Decrease Dynamic Knee Joint Loading, Daniel J. Bechard

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Excessive dynamic loading of the knee joint, quantified indirectly during three dimensional gait analysis, is a risk factor for the progression of knee osteoarthritis (OA). The overall objective of this thesis was to explore the effects of prolonged walking and the use of Nordic walking poles on selected gait characteristics indicative of knee joint load. The first study evaluated the time-varying behaviour, reliability, and validity of selected gait kinematics during 60 minutes of treadmill walking in 20 healthy adults. Maximum lateral trunk lean angle and maximum toe-out angle did not change over time, were consistent from day to day and …