Yahya Sokhangoei, Abdullah Abbasabadi, Behnam Akhbari and M. Reza Bahadoran
The purpose of this study was to investigate the relation between the walking speed changes and the metabolic energy consumption indexes in traumatic unilateral below knee amputated individuals participants included twenty four male unilateral traumatic BKA and twenty four(24) normal adults. Some of the data was collected through a questionnaire form and an electronic treadmill was used to yield the data about heart rate at walking and calories burnt at a given time. The BKA group and the normal group walked with three constant speeds of slow, medium and fast on the treadmill for 6 minutes and the heart rate, physiological cost index (PCI) and energy consumption (Kcal) were estimated at each speed. The result shows that relationship between changes in gait speed and each of indicators of the energy expenditure [heart rate, physiologic cost index (PCI) and energy consumption was linear in BKA group, just as it is in normal group, but the slope is significantly steeper. Student’s t-test results indicated that the mean of each of the indicators of energy expenditure was significantly higher in BKA group and that with increases in gait speed, the difference between this group and normal subjects increased proportionately. In this study, the correlation between length of residual limb (cm) and heart rate at walking was significant (P<0.5); but there was no meaningful correlation between PCI and calories burnt per elapsed time and length of residual limb. The results suggest that the below knee amputated individuals with walking speed changes compared to normal speed, bare more physiological weight than the healthy individuals.
