Abstract
[Purpose] We investigated how accurately orthopedic patients shifted their partial body weight on the affected and unaffected lower limbs after orthopedic surgery. [Subjects and Method] Thirteen orthopedic patients after orthopedic surgery and eleven healthy adults were asked to accurately load one third and two thirds of body weight on either the affected or unaffected (left or right for healthy controls) lower limb. [Result] The orthopedic patients showed significantly larger RMSE (root mean square error) when loading two thirds of body weight on their affected lower limb than in the other conditions. Both the orthopedic patients and healthy participants showed the ‘central tendency’ effect in this task. The orthopedic patients particularly showed a significant central tendency effect when they shifted one third of body weight to the affected limb. [Conclusion] Therapists should use a much lighter target load to prevent likely overshooting, when patients perform a partial weight bearing task with a light target load (i.e., the early stage of rehabilitation). Therapist should carefully conduct this task for patients, preventing likely undershooting and large variability, when patients shift a large target load (i.e., the late stage of rehabilitation).
