Comparative Study on Both Forward and Backward Gait in Normal Volunteers and Patients with Vestibular Disorders

Abstract

A comparative study on both forward and backward gait in fourteen normal volunteers and twelve patients with acute vestibular disorders was performed. For the assessment of the gait, two foot switches were placed on each pedal to record each foot's movement. Gait related muscle activities of m. tibialis anterior and m. gastrocnemius on both legs were also recorded by surface electrodes, using a telemeter.
In normal forward gait, the tibialis anterior muscle showed two phased contractions from the early swing phase to the early stance phase, and the gastrocnemius muscle showed monophasic contraction during the stance phase. Seemingly, those patterns of muscle activities have reversed and the activities of the gastrocnemius decreased during backward gait. All of the CV (coefficient of variation) values of parameters taken for the analysis have increased in the backward gait. In the patients with vestibular disorders, the occurence rate of the abnormality of the time from hindfoot strike to the forefoot strike was the highest in the forward gait and the time from forefoot off to hindfoot off was the highest in the backward gait. This indicate that the peripheral vestibular lesion affects the activities of tibialis anterior muscle rather than the gastrocnemius muscle.