| Abstract: | Six unilateral above-knee amputees using prostheses with quadrilateral sockets of the ischial-bearing typo, who were otherwise able-bodied persons, were evaluated economically by subjecting them to the physical exercise of walking on level ground with graded loads by shoulder pack or rucksack method During tests, the energy expenditure, oxygen consumption, pulmonary ventilation and peak heart rate were measured for each subject. Performances of the teat group subjects were compared with those of a control group comprising six normal, healthy, adult males of sedentary habits Results showed a consistently high rise in all the physiological parameters for the test group even when walking without loads and with graded loads as compared to the corresponding values from control subjects. In other words the tasks undertaken by the test group subjects appeared to be heavy according to the existing norms of heaviness of work. Thus the tasks which may be ‘ light ‘ for normal individuals may become ‘ heavy ’ or ‘ very heavy ’ for the above-knee amputees and encroach greatly on their physiological reserves This study has shown that evaluative tests combining both static and dynamic muscular work in addition to the usual leg work involved in a routine lower extremity activity, render diminutive effects to personal factors contributing variability in the performance of above-knee amputees fitted with prostheses. From this point of view the present study and the mode of tasting have proved to be an improvement over the methods employed by Ganguli et al. (1974), thus setting up norms for above-knee rehabilitee performance. |
