Review articleAssistive devices for balance and mobility: Benefits, demands, and adverse consequences
Section snippets
Methods
We identified English-language articles by searching MEDLINE and PubMed (1966–May 2003) for key words cane or walker; articles unrelated to mobility aids (eg, baby walkers, Dandy-Walker syndrome, Walker tumor) were excluded. Bibliographies were reviewed and ISI Web of Science citation searches were run to identify additional references. More than 1000 articles were selected for further evaluation. We then extracted all studies of single-tip canes or pickup walkers that addressed: (1)
Conclusions
There appears to be ample clinical evidence that canes and walkers can improve balance and mobility in older adults, as well as in patients with different clinical conditions. There is also supporting biomechanic evidence from a small but increasing number of studies, although many of the studies have been limited in sample size and/or control over confounding variables. Conversely, it has been established that a large proportion of mobility-aid users have difficulties using their devices and
Acknowledgment
We thank Amy Peters for her comments and assistance in the preparation of the manuscript.
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Supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Maki is a CIHR Senior Investigator.
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the author(s) or upon any organization with which the author(s) is/are associated.