Effects of action observation on learning non-weight-bearing gait with crutches

Abstract

Action observation (AO) has been used to improve rehabilitation outcomes. We examined the effects of AO gait training on the acquisition of a non-weight-bearing (NWB) gait with crutches. Eighteen healthy young male participants were assigned to control (n = 9) and AO groups (n = 9). All subjects were instructed to walk with crutches at a comfortable speed on a 10-m walkway (10 trials). Participants received a verbal explanation of the experimental task (NWB gait with crutches), after which, those in the AO group watched a video of another person performing the task. An accelerometer was positioned on the third lumbar vertebra and used to measure the trunk acceleration during the experimental task. Gait speed and acceleration root mean squares (RMS) were calculated during the 1st, 5th, and 10th trials for each group. The two-way ANOVA for acceleration RMS revealed significant main effects of trial and group, as well as a significant trial by group interaction. During the first trial, fewer trunk fluctuations were observed in the AO group compared to that in the control group. Thus, AO is effective in improving NWB gait training with crutches during the early phase of acquisition.

Keywords:

• action observation
• motor learning
• non-weight-bearing
• rehabilitation

Public Interest Statement

Action observation (AO) treatment has become well accepted as a new tool in rehabilitation that the observation of actions performed by others activates in the perceiver the same neural structures responsible for the actual execution of the observed actions. AO has been used to improve rehabilitation outcomes for stroke patient and postsurgical orthopaedic patients. In the present study, we examined the effects of AO gait training on the acquisition of a non-weight-bearing (NWB) gait with crutches in healthy young male participants. Participants who underwent AO, which was adapted to the learning of the NWB gait, obtained more stable walking, with a significantly smaller trunk fluctuation than that in participants who did not undergo AO in the early phase. Thus, AO is effective in improving NWB gait training with crutches during the early phase of acquisition.

Competing Interest

The authors report no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no direct funding for this research.

Notes on contributors

Hiroshi Osaka

Hiroshi Osaka is a Lecturer of Department of Rehabilitation at Kawasaki University of Medical Welfare. He is also working clinically as a physiotherapist at Kawasaki medical school hospital. He has received his Ph.D. from Hiroshima University in 2013. His research focuses on biomechanical analysis of human locomotion using an inertial measurement unit and fall prevention for community-dwelling elderly.