Background: Partial body weight support (BWS) systems have been broadly used with treadmills
as a strategy for gait training of individuals with gait impairments. Considering
that we usually walk on level ground and that BWS is achieved by altering the load
on the plantar surface of the foot, it would be important to investigate some
ground reaction force (GRF) parameters in healthy individuals walking on level
ground with BWS to better implement rehabilitation protocols for individuals with
gait impairments. Objective: To describe the effects of body weight unloading on GRF parameters as healthy
young adults walked with BWS on level ground. Method: Eighteen healthy young adults (27±4 years old) walked on a walkway, with two force
plates embedded in the middle of it, wearing a harness connected to a BWS system,
with 0%, 15%, and 30% BWS. Vertical and horizontal peaks and vertical valley of
GRF, weight acceptance and push-off rates, and impulse were calculated and
compared across the three experimental conditions. Results: Overall, participants walked more slowly with the BWS system on level ground
compared to their normal walking speed. As body weight unloading increased, the
magnitude of the GRF forces decreased. Conversely, weight acceptance rate was
similar among conditions. Conclusions: Different amounts of body weight unloading promote different outputs of GRF
parameters, even with the same mean walk speed. The only parameter that was
similar among the three experimental conditions was the weight acceptance rate.