EXPLORING THE CORRELATION BETWEEN GAIT SPEED AND BALANCE IN LIMB PROSTHESIS USERS: A PILOT STUDY

BACKGROUND: Increasing balance and stability, along with efficient locomotion, is a high-priority goal of physical rehabilitation after limb loss in order to facilitate effective participation in society. Research in the general population suggests that the ability to walk fast is correlated to good performance in balance tests. However, it is unclear if and how prosthesis use influences this correlation. OBJECTIVE: Our small-sample pilot study aimed to explore whether the general relationship between walking speed and balance holds true for people with limb loss whose physical capabilities are inevitably influenced by their prosthetic devices. METHODOLOGY: Participants with any level of limb loss were recruited and asked to perform the Ten-Meter Walk Test and Narrowing Beam Walking Test. Scores in both tests were analyzed using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. FINDINGS: The initial sample of eleven participants was reduced to eight (5 males, 3 females, mean age 52 years, mean height 171 cm, mean weight 68 kg, mean BMI 23, limb loss levels ranging from partial hand to trans-femoral amputation) after removing outliers. The mean Ten-Meter Walking velocity was 1.16 m/s, and the mean Narrowing Beam Test score was 11.38. The results indicate a medium to strong correlation between fast walking speed and high balance scores (ρ = 0.681, p = 0.063) when outliers are excluded. CONCLUSION: These findings are consistent with prior research conducted in other populations. However, outliers in our data suggest that this relationship is not universal across all individuals with limb loss. Possible confounding variables include the activity level and the respectively prescribed prosthetic technology. Our finding, that gait speed and balance scores should be evaluated separately to tailor rehabilitation strategies effectively, is preliminary and needs to be confirmed in a larger study. Layman's Abstract Losing a limb can have a major impact on a person’s daily life, including their ability to stay active, feel confident, and avoid accidents like falling. One of the main goals of physical rehabilitation after limb loss is to help people regain balance and stability, so they can move around safely and take part in everyday activities. We know from research on the general population that people who walk faster also tend to have better balance. But it is unclear if this same connection applies to people who use prosthetic limbs, since their walking ability is affected by both their physical condition and the type of prosthesis they use. This pilot study explored how walking speed relates to balance in eleven people with limb loss (8 men, 3 women), of whom three were eventually excluded from the final analysis. Participants completed two tests: a 10-meter walk to measure speed and a narrowing beam test to assess balance. We found that faster walkers generally had better balance scores, with some exceptions that might be due to the challenges of using prostheses. These early findings suggest that both walking speed and balance should be considered separately when designing prosthetic care to improve stability and reduce fall risk. Larger studies are needed to confirm these results, as this was a small feasibility study to test procedures and gather initial data. Article PDF Link: https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/cpoj/article/view/45517/34223 How To Cite: Alhuzaymi A, Fiedler G. Exploring the correlation between gait speed and balance in limb prosthesis users: A pilot study. Canadian Prosthetics & Orthotics Journal. 2025; Volume 8, Issue 1, No. 8. DOI:10.33137/cpoj.v8i1.45517 Corresponding Author: Goeran Fiedler, PhDAffiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology, University of Pittsburgh, USA.E-Mail: gfiedler@pitt.eduORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1532-1248

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