Internationale Zeitschrift für Physikalische Medizin und Rehabilitation
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Abstrakt

Importance of the Rear and Non-dominant Leg in Supporting the Body in Tandem Stance

Keita Aimoto, Kazuya Usami, Miwa Oyabu, Kakeru Hashimoto, Shunpei Owaki, Nozomi Matsuoka, Yusuke Asai and Izumi Kondo

Objective: Some studies have reported that postural assessment of a narrow base of support such as the tandem stance is useful in evaluating the risk of falls. The purpose of the present study was to obtain maximum inter-foot distance (IFD) during crossover movement of the rear foot from tandem stance, and to compare these data with those of our previous study of the front leg moving across the front of the body.

Methods: Forty healthy young people were recruited as subjects (aged 29 ± 6 years, 19 men). The subjects moved their rear leg across the rear of their body according to split treadmill belt movement. Maximum IFD was measured by a three-dimensional motion analysis system and defined as the largest IFD such that either foot could be removed from the treadmill belt while maintaining a standing posture. Four conditions were set for the measurements: the rear leg was dominant and non-dominant under two treadmill belt velocities (0.5 km/h and 1.0 km/h). Two-way analysis of variance was used for the analysis.

Results: Normalized maximum IFD (NMIFD) was 8-9% of subject height. Interaction between the rear leg and treadmill belt velocity was not significant. There was no significant main effect of treadmill belt velocity and the dominant foot on NMIFD. Comparing the results of our previous study, under the condition of the dominant foot moving, the NMIFD of the front leg moving across the front of the body was significantly larger than that of the rear leg moving across the rear of the body.

Conclusion: The function of the rear leg is important as a support under the condition of crossing the legs from a standing posture such as tandem stance.