Using the Arms to Drive the Legs During Walking

Metabolic Cost of Walking With Arm Swing Assistive Device Clinical Trial

Official title:

Reducing Metabolic Cost of Walking by Exploiting Arm Swing to Drive Leg Swing

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Not yet recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT03689647
• Other study ID #: STUDY00001219
• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: October 1, 2018
• Est. completion date: December 31, 2018

Study information

• Verified date: September 2018
• Source: University of Houston
• Contact: Christopher J Arellano, PhD
• Phone: 713-743-9709
• Email: carellano[@]uh.edu
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

This study aims to understand and compare the metabolic and mechanical demands placed on the body while walking normally and walking with the use of an apparatus that drives leg swing through the use of the arms. This information will help the investigators identify how arm swing mechanics helps minimize energy demands and to use this knowledge to design walking rehabilitation interventions in the future.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Enrollment: 30
• Est. completion date: December 31, 2018
• Est. primary completion date: December 31, 2018
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 36 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Apparently healthy and free from neurological disease and/or body related injury

• Community-dwelling young men and women 18-36 yrs

• Use and be contacted by telephone

• Speak, read, understand, and complete a questionnaire in English

• Body mass index < 30 kg/m2

Exclusion Criteria:

• not of the specified age range or Body Mass Index

• inadequate aerobic fitness training

• answering "no" to question #3 on Screening Form ("Is participant in good general health?")

• answering "yes" to:

• question #4 ("any difficulty with mobility?")

• question #5 ("problems with balance/dizziness?")

• question #6 ("lingering symptoms/pain from injury?")

• question #7 ("chest pain/shortness of breath?")

• question #8 ("high blood pressure/hypertension?"), or

• questions #9, 10, 11 ("first degree family history of heart attack?")

• question #12 ("smoke cigarettes?")

• question #13 ("diabetes?")

• question #14 ("high cholesterol?")

• question #15 ("Is participant pregnant?")

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Metabolic Cost of Walking With Arm Swing Assistive Device

Intervention

Device:
• Arm Swing Driven Assistive Apparatus
The investigators are testing a simple, custom built apparatus to determine if it can facilitate the use of the arms to swing the legs during walking. More specifically, the investigators will measure how this assistive apparatus affects the metabolic cost and biomechanics of walking.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
n/a

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
University of Houston

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Metabolic Cost	Change in Metabolic Cost	Change from walking without assistive apparatus to walking with assistive apparatus. Measures of metabolic cost are completed within a 3-hour time window during a single laboratory visit.