Acceleration patterns of the Center of Mass are altered during walking in people with incomplete spinal cord injury.

Frequent falls in ambulatory people with spinal cord injury (SCI) makes balance an area of research priority. To assess dynamic stability, we investigated center of mass (CoM) acceleration during stance phase of people with SCI (n = 34) who did not use an assistive device (n = 18) and those who used a rolling walker (n = 16). Comparison data was collected from neurologically intact (NI) individuals (n = 15). CoM acceleration was analyzed as a discrete metric using the root mean square (RMS) and as a continuous metric using statistical non-parametric mapping (SnPM). Stance phase was assessed as a whole and as its subphases. Analyzing RMS of CoM acceleration revealed that people with SCI who walk at similar speeds to NI demonstrated greater RMS of CoM acceleration, but those walking at slower speeds differed depending on assistive device use and functional level. Analyzing speed-normalized RMS of CoM acceleration showed that all people with SCI, regardless of phase, demonstrated greater CoM acceleration compared to NI. SnPM analysis elucidated that each subphase contained sections wherein CoM acceleration differed in magnitude and/or direction with results differing by grouping. This analysis may offer insight towards dynamic stability during walking in people with SCI, aiding clinicians in creating targeted interventions to improve balance.