ABSTRACT
Stair climbing is an important functional task that indicates independence, and generating power to climb stairs is a vital component of this task. Power during stair climbing is traditionally calculated using potential energy (PE), but it may be important to determine power expended using kinetic energy (KE).
Purpose: The current study assessed power output for stair climbing with and without the inclusion of KE.
Methods: Sixty participants (21-35 years) climbed a 12-step stairway with a 2-meter acceleration phase before the first step and a 2-meter deceleration phase after the last step. Participants completed 3 trials, and average time was used for calculating energy expended and power.
Results: The mean difference between power from PE and total power was 6.16 W (SD = 2.50, t29 = 13.49, p \u3c 0.001) for males and 64.76 W (SD = 2.90, t29 = 8.99, p \u3c 0.001) for females. Agreement between power calculated from PE and total power was 0.99 (95% confidence interval = 0.98-1.0).
Conclusion: Power calculated using PE and KE was significantly different from using PE alone, which may be clinically important. When conducting stair-climbing tests, both PE and KE may be necessary for the most accurate assessment of power
