The eight-week concurrent training effect on functional capacity in person living with unilateral transtibial amputation: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

IntroductionThe main causes of amputation include vascular diseases, trauma, cancer, and congenital limb abnormalities. The person with transtibial amputation (TA) is affected by a greater cardiorespiratory, metabolic, and muscular load to walk and perform daily activities. The sedentary lifestyle contributes to the process of chronic non-communicable diseases. The purpose of the study was to compare the effects of eight-week concurrent training (CT) for dependent variables as muscle strength, cardiorespiratory fitness, agility, and postural balance in persons with unilateral TA. MethodsA eight-week, randomized, controlled trial. Thirty-one people using prostheses for three or more months were selected. They were randomly divided into two groups: Experimental Group (EG; n = 17) – concurrent training and Control group (CG; n = 14) - no training. All patients were evaluated at the baseline and after eight weeks by the functional performance, isokinetic knee evaluation, static and dynamic posturography and cardiopulmonary test. ResultsThe patients showed improvements in all measures after training (size effect >0.80). ConclusionThe main limitations are the sample size, related to the socioeconomic status and availability training and no comparison to other types of training. Eight weeks of CT was effective and favorably modified the dependent variables in TA patients. Therefore, CT is a good option to improve functional performance after the regular rehabilitation program discharge and decreases the metabolic and functional deficits of these patients.