Walking ability of individuals fitted with transfemoral bone-anchored prostheses: A comparative study of gait parameters

Objective This study presents the walking abilities of participants fitted with transfemoral bone-anchored prostheses using a total of 14 gait parameters. Design Two-centre retrospective cross-sectional comparative study. Setting Research facilities equipped with tridimensional motion capture systems. Participants Two control arms included eight able-bodied participants arm (54 & PLUSMN; 9 years, 1.75 & PLUSMN; 0.07 m, 76 & PLUSMN; 7 kg) and nine participants fitted with transfemoral socket-suspended prostheses arm (59 & PLUSMN; 9 years, 1.73 & PLUSMN; 0.07 m, 80 & PLUSMN; 16 kg). The intervention arm included nine participants fitted with transfemoral bone-anchored prostheses arm (51 & PLUSMN; 13 years, 1.78 & PLUSMN; 0.09 m, 87.3 & PLUSMN; 16.1 kg). Intervention Fitting of transfemoral bone-anchored prostheses. Main measures Comparisons were performed for two spatio-temporal, three spatial and nine temporal gait parameters. Results The cadence and speed of walking were 107 & PLUSMN; 6 steps/min and 1.23 & PLUSMN; 0.19 m/s for the able-bodied participants arm, 88 & PLUSMN; 7 steps/min and 0.87 & PLUSMN; 0.17 m/s for the socket-suspended prosthesis arm, and 96 & PLUSMN; 6 steps/min and 1.03 & PLUSMN; 0.17 m/s for bone-anchored prosthesis arm, respectively. Able-bodied participants and bone-anchored prosthesis arms were comparable in age, height, and body mass index as well as cadence and speed of walking, but the able-bodied participant arm showed a swing phase 31% shorter. Bone-anchored and socket-suspended prostheses arms were comparable for age, height, mass, and body mass index as well as cadence and speed of walking, but the bone-anchored prosthesis arm showed a step width and duration of double support in seconds 65% and 41% shorter, respectively. Conclusions Bone-anchored and socket-suspended prostheses restored equally well the gait parameters at a self-selected speed. This benchmark data provides new insights into the walking ability of individuals using transfemoral bionics bone-anchored prostheses.