Dual-task activities impact the gait kinematics of both amputated and healthy participants similarly / As atividades de dupla tarefa impactam a cinemática da marcha de participantes amputados e saudáveis de forma semelhante

Abstract Introduction: Gait is the motor task most impacted by amputation, requiring several physical and cognitive adaptations. The interaction between cognition and movement can be validly assessed through dual-tasks analysis. Objective: To analyze the kinematics of single and dual-motor tasks of participants with transfemoral amputation and compare it with healthy participants. Methods: This is a comparative cross-sectional study in which 14 participants in the transfemoral amputee group and 14 non-amputee participants attended the Gait Laboratory of the Clinical Center of the Universidade de Caxias do Sul to perform cognitive and motor activities tests. Speed, cadence, stride width, stride length, step length and step time were analyzed. Results: Participants in the transfemoral amputee group presented impaired gait kinematic parameters when compared to non-amputates during single and dual-tasks. Both groups showed a similar percentage decrease in performance on the dual-task compared to the single task. Conclusion: There is a distinction observed in the gait patterns and parameters of both groups, as evidenced in both the simple gait assessment and the dual-task evaluation. The primary finding of our study suggests that changes in gait kinematics appear to be exacerbated by dual-tasking rather than solely by amputation.

Resumo Introdução: A marcha é a tarefa motora mais impactada pela amputação, exigindo várias adaptações físicas e cognitivas. A interação entre cognição e movimento pode ser validamente avaliada por meio da análise de duplas tarefas. Objetivo: Analisar a cinemática de tarefas motoras simples e duplas de participantes com amputação transfemoral e compará-las com participantes saudáveis. Métodos: Estudo transversal comparativo no qual 14 participantes do grupo de amputados trans-femorais e 14 participantes não amputados compareceram ao Laboratório de Marcha do Centro Clínico da Universidade de Caxias do Sul para realizar testes de atividades cognitivas e motoras. Foram analisados a velocidade, cadência, largura do passo, comprimento do passo, comprimento da passada e tempo de passo. Resultados: Os participantes do grupo de amputados transfemorais apresentaram parâmetros cine-máticos da marcha prejudicados em comparação com os não amputados durante as tarefas simples e duplas. Ambos os grupos mostraram uma diminuição percentual semelhante no desempenho na tarefa dupla em comparação com a tarefa simples. Conclusão: Uma distinção pode ser vista nos padrões e parâmetros da marcha de ambos os grupos, e não apenas na avaliação simples da marcha, mas especialmente na avaliação da dupla tarefa. A principal descoberta do nosso estudo sugere que as mudanças nos parâmetros da cinemática da marcha pa-recem ser exacerbadas não só pela amputação, mas também pela realização de duplas tarefas.

Hip Joint Biomechanical Parameters and Their Relationship With the Esthetic Functional Performance of the Développé à la Seconde Movement in Classical Ballet Dancers.

Développé à la seconde is a classic ballet movement that requires the maintenance of a high hip joint range of motion (ROM) and muscle strength. However, the contribution of these hip joint biomechanical parameters to this movement's esthetic performance is unclear. Therefore, this study evaluated hip joint biomechanical characteristics of 21 experienced ballet dancers (15-29 y old) and verified the relationship between these variables with the développé à la seconde static and dynamic performance. Correlations between age, ballet practice time, gluteus maximus and gluteus medius thicknesses, ROM, and muscle strength with absolute and relative static and dynamic performances were verified. Flexors, extensors, and internal rotators peak strength and external rotation ROM were highly correlated with absolute and relative static performances (0.5-0.7). Flexors and extensors strength and external and internal rotation ROM showed the highest correlations with the développé dynamic performance (0.49-0.67). Flexor strength and flexor and internal rotation ROM predicted 26% to 41% of this movement's static and dynamic performances. Thus, from a biomechanical perspective, clinical assessment of hip strength and ROM may be used to predict the quality of the ballet dancers' performance of the développé à la seconde and guide classical ballet training.