Effects of Arm Movement Restriction on Multi-Joint Kinematics During Gait in Healthy Adults

Purpose: The movement of the upper extremities and trunk is crucial in normal ambulation.Patients with brain injury that limit upper limb movement have abnormal gait due to gait energy loss.This study aimed to investigate changes in the upper limbs, trunk, and lower limbs during gait according to different gait conditions.Methods: This study was conducted with 155 right-handed subjects.The subjects were randomly divided into a control group with normal walking conditions and an experimental group with arm-restricted walking conditions.Data on the range of motion (ROM) of the non-dominant shoulder joint, non-dominant elbow joint, pelvis, bilateral hip joints, bilateral knee joints, and bilateral ankle joints during walking were collected according to each subject's walking conditions.Differences according to conditions were confirmed through comparison between groups.Results: Joint movement by different gait speeds showed significant differences in all movements excluding pelvic rotation (p<.05).In the comparison of joint movement under the restricted condition of walking and the upper limb, a significant difference was found in all movements excluding transverse plane pelvis motion and sagittal plane knee joint motion (p<.05). Conclusion:Based on these results, the movements of the upper limbs and trunk should also be considered for qualitative and quantitative improvement of pathological walking, such as the walking of patients with hemiplegia due to brain damage.