A Study on Energy Efficiency in Walking and Stair Climbing for Elderly Wearing Complex Muscle Support System

A Study on Energy Efficiency in Walking and Stair Climbing for Elderly Wearing Complex Muscle Support System

Objective: This study was conducted to analyze the effect of wearable complex muscle support system on energy efficiency during walking in elderly. Design: Cross sectional study Methods: Twenty healthy elderly participated in this study. All subjects performed a 6 minuteswalk test(6MWT) and stair climbing test in dual, slack and no suit conditions. In each condition, oxygen consumption(VO2), metabolic equivalents(METs), energy expenditure measures(EEm), physiological cost index(PCI), walking velocity and heartrate were measured. Through repeated measured ANOVA, it was investigated whether there was a statistically significant difference in the measurement results between the three conditions. Results: In over-ground walking, VO2, METs and EEm showed significant differences between no suit and slack conditions(p ＜0.05). In stair climbing, VO2 showed significant difference between slack and dual conditions(p＜0.05). Also, METs and EEm showed significant differences between no suit and slack, and between slack and dual conditions(p＜0.05). Conclusions: Wearing the wearable complex muscle support system for elderly does not have much benefit in energy metabolism efficiency in over-ground, but there is a benefit in stair walking.