Researchers in Australia recently tested the dorsiflexion assist orthosis, better known as the Foot-Up, in a randomized crossover trial. They found that the device helped improve strength and reduce the physiological cost of walking, but that patients still felt as fatigued as they did without the device.
Researchers in Australia recently tested the dorsiflexion assist orthosis, better known as the Foot-Up, in a randomized crossover trial. They found that the device helped improve strength and reduce the physiological cost of walking, but that patients still felt as fatigued as they did without the device.
CYNTHIA MCKELVEY
Progressive physical disability is a grim reality for people living with multiple sclerosis. While many researchers and physicians are racing for a cure, others are focusing on how to make MSers’ lives better and more functional in the here and now.
The Foot-Up dorsiflexion assist orthosis.
Recently, a team of researchers in Australia put a popular walking aid to the test. The aid, called the dorsiflexion assist orthosis (DAO, brand name Foot-Up, Össur) is made of a flexible material that attaches around the ankle. From the front (anterior) side of the ankle brace, an elastic tether extends toward the top of the shoe, to help keep the toes up while walking. It aids the ankle dorsiflexor muscles, which normally lift the front of the foot, to keep the person walking from tripping over his or her own toes.
While people with MS have been using the device for some time, it had yet to be tested in a clinical setting to determine whether it had any measurable effect on people with MS, lead author James McLoughlin, M.Sc., of the University of New South Wales told MSDF in an email.
McLoughlin and his colleagues decided to test the DAO in a randomized crossover trial (McLoughlin et al., 2014). A total of 34 patients were divided into two groups. Both groups had their degree of disability determined using the Expanded Disability Status Scale (mean = 3.7 ± 0.7) and their baseline walking ability measured using the modified 6-minute walking test. The team also determined which leg was weaker in each patient and did tests assessing strength and balance.
Then the participants were split into two groups, one that used the DAO and one that didn’t. They underwent the same assessments, came back 2 weeks later, and did them again under the same conditions.
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