Quantitative evaluation of long sitting in paraplegic patients with spinal cord injury

Shirado O, Kawase M, Minami A, Strax TE. Quantitative evaluation of long sitting in paraplegic patients with spinal cord injury. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2004;85:1251–6. To evaluate the characteristics of long sitting (ie, sitting with legs extended) in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI) and to compare these results with able-bodied control subjects. A kinematic study using a video camera and forceplate with a strain-gauge type load cell. A referral center for patients with SCI in Japan. Twenty-four subjects, including 11 able-bodied, matched control subjects and 13 SCI patients with complete paraplegia. Not applicable. Sitting posture in the sagittal plane as well as the movement pattern and distance of the center of pressure (COP). Patients with SCI kept their pelvis tilted posteriorly and the lumbar spine was less lordotic during long sitting. The changing COP pattern during long sitting differed in able-bodied subjects as compared patients with SCI. During long sitting with arms outstretched over the thighs, COP movement in the subjects with SCI was significantly greater than that in the able-bodied subjects. When the arms were outstretched over the thighs, the COP shifted anteriorly in the able-bodied subjects and posteriorly in the patients with SCI. Long sitting in the paraplegic patients with SCI was unstable compared with the able-bodied subjects. The COP distribution pattern differed significantly between the 2 groups. The support and function of the upper extremities may influence balance during long sitting in the patients with SCI. The method of seating evaluation using a video camera and gravicorder was easy to use and appeared to provide an objective measurement of dynamic seating function in the patients with SCI.