Background: A powered knee ankle foot orthosis (KAFO) was developed to provide restriction of knee flexion during stance phase and active flexion and extension of the knee during swing phase of gait.
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine its effect on the physiological cost index (PCI), walking speed and the distance walked in people with poliomyelitis compared to when walking with a KAFO with drop lock knee joints.
Methods: Seven subjects with poliomyelitis volunteered for the study, and undertook gait analysis with both types of KAFO.
Results: Walking with the powered KAFO significantly reduced walking speed (p=0.015) and the distance walked (p=0.004), and also it did not improve PCI values (p =0.009) compared to walking with the locked KAFO.
Conclusion: Using a powered KAFO did not significantly improve any of the primary outcome measures during walking for poliomyelitis subjects
