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Background and Aims One of the treatment methods in the old age is to strengthen the sensory inputs. This study aims to evaluate the effect of knee brace on the electric activity of selected lower limb muscles during walking in older adults. Methods The is a quasi-experimental and laboratory study. Participants were 30 older adults, 15 females (Mean age=62.66±3.84 years, mean height= 159.93±0.02 cm, mean weight= 73.86±11.56 kg, body mass index=28.82±4.17 kg/m2) and 15 males (Mean age= 68.93±5.88 years, mean height=175.07±0.03 cm, mean weight= 81.20±11.07 kg, body mass index= 26.44±3.19 kg/m2). The intervention was the use of a type of brace by restricting knee flexion and extension movements or knee support. Electromyography (EMG) data were analyzed in DataLITE and MATLAB applications using two-way ANOVA with repeated measures, and considering the significance level at P<0.05. Results The effects of braces on the electric activity of tibialis anterior, semitendinosus and erector spinae muscles were significantly different in the loading response, mid-stance, push-off and swing phases of walking. The effect of group on the electric activity of anterior tibialis and biceps femoris muscles in the loading response phase and for gastrocnemius medialis and biceps femoris muscles in the push-off and swing phases were significantly different. The interaction effect of group and brace was significant on the electric activity of the gastrocnemius and vastus medialis muscles in the push-off phase, and on the electric activity of the vastus lateralis and semitendinosus muscles in the swing phase. Conclusion The knee brace improves the electric activity of selected muscles during walking in older adults. However, further studies are needed to prove this claim.

Background: Training of elastic walking is a new method for elasticity in gait and correction of the distribution pattern of plantar pressure in patients with low back pain during gait. This study aimed to investigate the distribution pattern of plantar pressure during gait in women with low back pain following 8 weeks-training of elastic walking. Methods: The present study was quasi-experimental. In this research, 20 women with low back pain were divided into control (n=11) and experimental (n=9) groups. Subjects from the experimental group performed elastic gait training for 3 sessions per week for 8 weeks while the control group didn’t have any exercise program. The plantar pressure variables included the peak of vertical ground reaction forces, the time to peak of ground reaction forces, loading rate, the peak of plantar pressure on the ten foot regions, the peak of ground reaction forces on the ten foot regions, and displacement of the pressure center in two internal-external (copx) and anterior-posterior (copy) lines. The distribution pattern of plantar pressure during gait was recorded by a foot scan system (Sampling rate 300 Hz) in pre-training and post-training. Two-way ANOVA was used to analyze the data. The significance level was set at P < 0.05. Results: In the experimental group, the results of this study demonstrated lower peak vertical reaction force (FzMS component) during post-test compared with pre-test (P = 0.002). Moreover, findings showed that the main effect of group on peak pressure in the mid-foot region was significant (P = 0.011). The results showed no significant difference concerning the main effect of group, the main effect of time and effect, interaction time and group on peak vertical reaction force, displacement of pressure center, vertical loading rate, and walking stance time (P > 0.05). Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that training of elastic walking does not have a significant effect on stance time. Also, training of elastic walking in the experimental group reduced the peak vertical ground reaction force (FzMS component) during the post-test compared with the pre-test that can correct the walking pattern and improve the chronic low back pain.