めまい患者の歩行分析の試み

Abstract

Gait analysis of patients with vestibular disorders was performed with two foot switches placed on each foot to record foot movents. Gait-related activities of the m. tibilis anterior and m. gastrocnemius of both legs were also recorded by surface electrodes on a telemeter. The patients were asked to walk freely with eyes open then closed for a distance of seven meters several times to obtain sufficient data. The data were stored in a data-recorder followed by computer-aided analysis. The parameters employed for the analysis were : time from heel (H) contact to the first caput ossis metarsalis portion (A) contact (HA-I); time from H off to A off (HA-II); stance phase ; swing phase ; double supports ; location of maximum contraction of m. gastrocnemius during stance phase (Gc-max); and location of two-phased contraction of m. tibialis anterior from the early swing phase to the early stance phase. For a comparative study of the steadiness of gait, coefficients of variation were employed for the former six parameters and the average value of the actual measured time was calculated for the latter two parameters. Normal variations were obtained from 14 healthy adults.The incidence of abnormalities in HA-I was the highest among the eight parameters. CV values increased in each of the parameters when the eyes were closed during walking. The abnormal values returned to normal in the recovery stage. In general, it appeared that the severer the gait abnormality, the higher the incidence of abnormalities in each parameter.This system of gait analysis was useful and could substanciate a patient's subjective feeling of dysequilibrium even when the gait looked normal.