Journal
JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSIOLOGY
Volume 120, Issue 1, Pages 55-62Publisher
AMER PHYSIOLOGICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00413.2015
Keywords
walking efficiency; diabetic neuropathy; joint work; oxygen consumption; lower limb biomechanics
Categories
Funding
- European Commission through MOVE-AGE, an Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate programme
Ask authors/readers for more resources
People with diabetes walk slower and display biomechanical gait alterations compared with controls, but it remains unknown whether the metabolic cost of walking (CoW) is elevated. The aim of this study was to investigate the CoW and the lower limb concentric joint work as a major determinant of the CoW, in patients with diabetes and diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). Thirty-one nondiabetic controls (Ctrl), 22 diabetic patients without peripheral neuropathy (DM), and 14 patients with moderate/severe DPN underwent gait analysis using a motion analysis system and force plates and treadmill walking using a gas analyzer to measure oxygen uptake. The CoW was significantly higher particularly in the DPN group compared with controls and also in the DM group (at selected speeds only) compared with controls, across a range of matched walking speeds. Despite the higher CoW in patients with diabetes, concentric lower limb joint work was significantly lower in DM and DPN groups compared with controls. The higher CoW is likely due to energetic inefficiencies associated with diabetes and DPN reflecting physiological and biomechanical characteristics. The lower concentric joint work in patients with diabetes might be a consequence of kinematic gait alterations and may represent a natural strategy aimed at minimizing the CoW.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available