Abstract
Introduction
Modern forearm crutches have evolved little since their invention last century. We evaluated comfort and user satisfaction of 2 spring-loaded crutches compared with existing crutch designs.
Methods
25 healthy subjects (11 male, average age 26.2 years; 14 female, average age 22.7 years) participated. Each used 5 different crutches in a randomly allocated order:
standard forearm crutch (ergonomic grip);
spring-loaded crutch (soft spring, ergonomic grip);
spring-loaded crutch (firm spring, ergonomic grip);
standard forearm crutch (normal grip);
axillary crutch.
Participants completed a purpose built course at the Pedestrian Accessibility and Movement LAboratory, UCL (PAMELA). The course consisted of a mixture of slopes (transverse and longitudinal), sprint, slalom, and a slow straight. All participants completed questionnaires relating to crutch user preference and design features.
Results
Crutches were ranked in order of preference. The crutch least favoured was the axillary design, irrespective of subject weight, followed by the standard forearm crutch with normal grip. The 3 crutches with ergonomic handles all scored similarly. Preferences were also analysed in two weight controlled groups and compared against the soft and firm spring-loaded crutches. Of the lighter group 80% preferred the softer spring. Of the heavier group 56% preferred the firmer spring. Over 50% of subjects rated handle/cuff comfort as a key feature in crutch design.
Conclusions
Preference for different spring tensions depended on subject weight, which should be the focus of further research. The least favoured crutches were the axillary and standard issue forearm grip crutch. Comfort was the most important feature in crutch design with preference for ergonomic handles, followed by cuff design ranked the most important. Spring-loaded crutches performed comparably to the other crutches with ergonomic handles.
