Effect of Upper Extremity Splinting on Walking Speed and Cadence

Upper extremity movements and hands can alter or interfere with walking patterns, but they are usually ignored in gait analyses. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of upper extremity splinting on walking speed and cadence.

A total of 30 healthy individuals (Mean±SD: 29.56±5.34years, BMI: 24.06±3.25 kg/cm2) were asked to walk in front of the Vicon motion analysis system at their usual speed and then at the same speed with the dominant and then non-dominant hand position on the splint. Then, using MATLAB software, data were extracted and analyzed using descriptive statistics (Mean and SD), Shapirovik test (to check the normality of data distribution), and paired t-test to compare walking speed and cadence.

The results of the t-test showed a significant difference between the normal swing and dominant hand position in the splint as well as the natural swing and the non-dominant hand position in the splint in the moving average variable walking speed. However, in terms of cadence, despite the mean decrease, there was no significant difference between any of the conditions and patterns compared to the natural pattern. (p≤0.05).

According to the results of the study, it can be suggested that sling should not be used to maintain normal walking speed in unnecessary cases in different patients, because these individuals may experience changes in walking patterns, imbalances, and falls due to increased walking speed.