Effects of load carriage and fatigue on gait characteristics

Qu, Xingda; Yeo, Joo Chuan

doi:10.1016/j.jbiomech.2011.02.016

Cited by 121 publications

(93 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Several groups have reported significant deviations from normal (unloaded) balance, posture, movement, and gait when carrying heavy loads (Martin and Nelson 1986;Quesada et al 2000;Attwells et al 2006;Qu and Yeo 2011;Park et al 2014). In general, those changes have been shown to contribute to, or are at least suggestive of, an elevated energy cost of movement, an earlier onset of fatigue, and possibly an increased risk of injury (Epstein et al 1988;Knapik et al 2004).…”

Section: Load Carriage and Its Impact Upon Gaitmentioning

confidence: 99%

Load carriage, human performance, and employment standards

Taylor

Peoples

Petersen

2016

Appl. Physiol. Nutr. Metab.

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Abstract:The focus of this review is on the physiological considerations necessary for developing employment standards within occupations that have a heavy reliance on load carriage. Employees within military, fire fighting, law enforcement, and search and rescue occupations regularly work with heavy loads. For example, soldiers often carry loads >50 kg, whilst structural firefighters wear 20-25 kg of protective clothing and equipment, in addition to carrying external loads. It has long been known that heavy loads modify gait, mobility, metabolic rate, and efficiency, while concurrently elevating the risk of muscle fatigue and injury. In addition, load carriage often occurs within environmentally stressful conditions, with protective ensembles adding to the thermal burden of the workplace. Indeed, physiological strain relates not just to the mass and dimensions of carried objects, but to how those loads are positioned on and around the body. Yet heavy loads must be borne by men and women of varying body size, and with the expectation that operational capability will not be impinged. This presents a recruitment conundrum. How do employers identify capable and injury-resistant individuals while simultaneously avoiding discriminatory selection practices? In this communication, the relevant metabolic, cardiopulmonary, and thermoregulatory consequences of loaded work are reviewed, along with concomitant impediments to physical endurance and mobility. Also emphasised is the importance of including occupation-specific clothing, protective equipment, and loads during work-performance testing. Finally, recommendations are presented for how to address these issues when evaluating readiness for duty.Key words: backpacks, firefighter, load carriage, oxygen cost, military, employment standards, ventilation, work of breathing.Résumé : Cette analyse documentaire traite principalement des aspects physiologiques essentiels à l'élaboration de normes d'emploi pour des postes dont la fonction majeure est le transport de charges. Les employés dans l'armée, les pompiers, la police, les membres de recherche et sauvetage travaillent régulièrement avec de lourdes charges. Par exemple, les soldats transportent souvent des charges de >50 kg et les pompiers de bâtiments portent un vêtement de protection pesant de 20 à 25 kg et déplacent aussi des charges externes. On sait depuis longtemps que le port de charges lourdes modifie la démarche, la mobilité, le taux métabolique et le rendement tout en augmentant le risque de fatigue musculaire et de blessure. De plus, le déplacement des charges est effectué fréquemment dans des conditions environnementales stressantes et les vêtements de protection accroissent la charge thermique dans cet endroit. En outre, la contrainte physiologique ne dépend pas seulement de la masse et des dimensions des objets à déplacer, mais aussi de leur positionnement sur et autour du corps. Pourtant, il faut que ces charges soient déplacées par des hommes et des femmes de gabarit divers dont les capacités opérationnell...

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Section: Load Carriage and Its Impact Upon Gaitmentioning

confidence: 99%

Load carriage, human performance, and employment standards

Taylor

Peoples

Petersen

2016

Appl. Physiol. Nutr. Metab.

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“…While there exists some research comparing the effects of (military) footwear on gait biomechanics [22][23], additional work is needed in populations with lower-limb amputations, both with and without load. It would also be of interest in the future to collect similar temporal-spatial and kinematic outcomes during sloped (incline and decline) weighted walking, as well as for sustained durations [17,24]. Because our treadmill was not instrumented to collect ground reaction force data, future work should also collect kinetics in order to investigate potential differences in limb loading with added load among persons with lower-limb amputations [7,25].…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Kinematic analysis of males with transtibial amputation carrying military loads

Schnall

Hendershot

Bell³

et al. 2014

J Rehabil Res Dev

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Abstract-The biomechanical responses to load carriage, a common task for dismounted troops, have been well studied in nondisabled individuals. However, with recent shifts in the rehabilitation and retention process of injured servicemembers, there remains a substantial need for understanding these responses in persons with lower-limb amputations. Temporalspatial and kinematic gait parameters were analyzed among 10 male servicemembers with unilateral transtibial amputation (TTA) and 10 uninjured male controls. Participants completed six treadmill walking trials in all combinations of two speeds (1.34 and 1.52 m/s) and three loads (none, 21.8, and 32.7 kg). Persons with TTA exhibited biomechanical compensations to carried loads that are comparable to those observed in uninjured individuals. However, several distinct gait changes appear to be unique to those with TTA, notably, increased dorsiflexion (deformation) of the prosthetic foot/ankle, less stance knee flexion on the prosthetic limb, and altered trunk forward lean/excursion. Such evidence supports the need for future work to assess the risk for overuse injuries with carried loads in this population in addition to guiding the development of adaptive prosthetic feet/components to meet the needs of redeployed servicemembers or veterans/civilians in physically demanding occupations.

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“…In addition, during emergencies, firefighters wear personal protective devices and use supplementary weight identified by Gledhill and Jamnik [4] as follow: ladders 25.40-61.23 kg, Hurst portable pump 56.70 kg; advancing hoses produced forces equivalent to weights ranging from 51.71 to 68.04 kg; hoisting hoses produced forces equivalent to weights ranging from 36.24 to 50.35 kg. Various studies [5][6][7][8][9] have shown that protective clothing and self-contained breathing apparatus have negative effects on gait, metabolic and thermal efficiency, and fatigue.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age-related changes in upper body strength and lower limb power of professional Italian firefighters

Perroni

Guidetti

Cignitti³

et al. 2015

Sport Sci Health

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Purpose Considering that the decrease in strength can be observed with ageing and that muscular endurance and strength are essential factors for firefighting effectiveness in critical situations, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the Upper Body Strength and Lower Limb Power of Professional of Italian Firefighters of 229 Italian male firefighters (age 32 ± 8 years, height 177 ± 6 cm, weight 79 ± 9 kg, BMI 24.5 ± 2.4 kg/m 2 ) and to compare the results in relation to the age (\30-year-old group; 31-to 35-year-old group; 36-to 40-year-old group; 41-to 45-year-old group; [45-year-old group). Methods Upper body strength (1RM bench press), lower limb power (counter movement jump-CMJ, and sprint ability-20 m) were analysed. Descriptive statistics and an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were applied to anthropometric and physical fitness values to assess significant difference between age groups. When a significant effect was found, Bonferroni's post hoc analysis was used. Results Between age groups, anthropometric values showed an age effect (p \ 0.05) for BMI with 34 % of all firefighters in overweight and high prevalence (52 %) in [45 compared to the other age group categories. Performances values showed differences for 1RM bench press [F (4,223) = 6.17; p \ 0.001], CMJ [F (4,223) Conclusions Considering that the ability to produce strength and power movements are very important qualities to firefighters in each age, individuals and ''job specific'' training programs should be planned with functional work activities to improve neuromuscular function at any age.

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Effects of load carriage and fatigue on gait characteristics

Cited by 121 publications

References 27 publications

Load carriage, human performance, and employment standards

Load carriage, human performance, and employment standards

Kinematic analysis of males with transtibial amputation carrying military loads

Age-related changes in upper body strength and lower limb power of professional Italian firefighters

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