Gait Characteristics and Deviation Factors of Backward Walking in Patients With Chronic Ankle Instability.

BACKGROUND

Despite growing applications of backward walking (BW) in assessing and rehabilitating neuromuscular conditions, its effects on gait in chronic ankle instability (CAI) remain unclear. Moreover, linking patient-reported and clinically generated measures is imperative for understanding CAI.

HYPOTHESES

Patients with CAI will exhibit worse and compensatory spatio-temporal and kinetic gait parameters during BW, and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) will be correlated significantly with gait parameters.

STUDY DESIGN

Case-control study.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Level 4.

METHODS

A total of 46 volunteers participated (23 per group). Patients filled out scales for pain, functions, and fear-avoidance beliefs before testing. All participants walked 6 times each in both forward and backward conditions, and gait was recorded using the Win-Track system. A 2-way mixed analysis of variance was performed to compare gait parameters. The relationship between PRO and gait outcomes was assessed through the Pearson product correlation coefficient.

RESULTS

The CAI group demonstrated prolonged support and swing phases, increased walk-off angle, and plantar pressure area, but decreased step length and plantar pressure versus controls ( < 0.05). The CAI group had a smaller right walk-off angle during BW than FW; the control group showed the opposite ( < 0.05). The left single stance duration was greater in the CAI group, while the right was not ( < 0.05). PRO correlated significantly with gait parameters, particularly spatial parameters ( < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The CAI group exhibited worse gait parameters during BW. The CAI group exhibited a characteristic compensatory gait pattern. Linking the self-reported scores provides a better representation of gait changes in CAI.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

These results suggest that BW may be an effective strategy for identifying and evaluating CAI. It may be feasible to apply BW to the rehabilitation of CAI.