Thomas Aaron, Lunn David E, Walker Josh
Carnegie School of Sport, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, United Kingdom.
NIHR Leeds Biomedical Research Centre, Leeds Teaching Hospitals N.H.S. Trust, Leeds, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2025 Apr 29;20(4):e0321978. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0321978. eCollection 2025.
Preferred walking speed (PWS) is lower when wearing a controlled ankle motion (CAM) boot, which can potentially make comparisons between footwear conditions difficult. Standardising walking speed accounts for this but lacks the ecological validity of PWS. The aim of this study was to compare acute biomechanical responses to CAM boot wear when walking is freely chosen and when it is controlled. Twelve healthy participants walked on an instrumented treadmill at their PWS and at three standardised speeds: 3, 4, and 5 km/h. They did so in three footwear conditions: (1) with a Rebound® Air Walker CAM boot on the right leg, (2) with a Rebound® Air Walker on the right leg and an Evenup Shoelift™ on the left, and (3) in normal footwear. Comparisons between footwear conditions were largely similar in the ipsilateral limb at PWS and at the standardised speeds, which included a decrease in total mechanical work and ankle joint work during CAM boot wear (p < 0.001). At the standardised speeds, total mechanical work and hip joint work were lower during CAM boot wear than wearing normal shoes and the Evenup Shoelift™ (p ≤ 0.014), although there were no differences between footwear conditions at PWS (p ≥ 0.095). As such, acute responses to CAM boot wear are different when speed is standardised compared to when speed is freely chosen, meaning conclusions cannot necessarily be transferred between approaches. Based on these differences observed between walking speeds, it would be prudent for future studies to try to maintain ecological validity by using PWS.
穿着可控踝关节运动（CAM）靴时，首选步行速度（PWS）会降低，这可能会使不同鞋类条件之间的比较变得困难。标准化步行速度可以解决这个问题，但缺乏PWS的生态效度。本研究的目的是比较自由选择步行速度和控制步行速度时，穿着CAM靴的急性生物力学反应。12名健康参与者在仪器化跑步机上以他们的PWS以及三种标准化速度行走：3、4和5公里/小时。他们在三种鞋类条件下进行：（1）右腿穿着Rebound® Air Walker CAM靴，（2）右腿穿着Rebound® Air Walker，左腿穿着Evenup Shoelift™，（3）穿着普通鞋。在PWS和标准化速度下，同侧肢体在不同鞋类条件之间的比较在很大程度上相似，其中包括穿着CAM靴时总机械功和踝关节功的降低（p < 0.001）。在标准化速度下，穿着CAM靴时的总机械功和髋关节功低于穿着普通鞋和Evenup Shoelift™时（p ≤ 0.014），尽管在PWS时不同鞋类条件之间没有差异（p ≥ 0.095）。因此，与自由选择速度相比，标准化速度时对穿着CAM靴的急性反应有所不同，这意味着结论不一定能在两种方法之间转换。基于观察到的步行速度之间的这些差异，未来的研究谨慎起见应尝试通过使用PWS来保持生态效度。
