Abstract
This study was designed to investigate the influence of gait, with different prosthetic lengths of one leg, on various walking factors, particularly the index of walking efficiency, physiological cost index (PCI), and the necessity of supplementing shoe height in 9 healthy adult men. The subjects engaged in exercise under the conditions in which 5 different leg lengths, 0-4 cm, had been prepared, and the comfortable walking speed and maximal walking speed were assessed. The items analyzed were PCI, differences in heart rate between during exertion and at rest, walking speed, stride length and walking rate. Under the two distinct speed conditions, there was no signiflcant difference in walking speed, stride length or walking rate, when the difference in leg length was within 4 cm. At the comfortable walking speed, however, there were significant differences in PCI with leg length differences between 0 cm and 4 cm and between 1 cm and 4 cm. There was also a difference in heart rate with a leg length difference between 0 cm and 4 cm. These results suggest that supplementation of shoe height is necessary for the patients with a leg length difference of 4 cm, based on our investigation of gait with different leg lengths from the aspect of somatic energy expenditure including PCI and heart rate.
