Abstract:
To evaluate our clinical impression that patients with the chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) did not walk normally, we assessed gait kinematics at slow walking speeds (i.e., 0.45, 0.89 and 1.34 m/sec) and 30 m run time speeds on CFS patients and on a comparison group of sedentary controls.
Run time was significantly slower for CFS than control subjects (p < 0.001). There was a significant interaction (p < 0.01) between group and speed for maximum hip angle during stance and swing phase with hip angle being significantly larger at 1.34 m/sec for CFS than controls subjects for both cases (p < 0.05). Knee flexion during stance and swing phases was significantly larger for controls than CFS subjects at 0.45 m/sec (p < 0.01). Ratio of stride length divided by leg length was significantly larger for the control subjects than for the CFS subjects with differences occurring at 0.45 and 0.89 m/sec (p < 0.01) but not 1.34 m/sec.
The data indicate that CFS patients have gait abnormalities when compared to sedentary controls. These could be due to balance problems, muscle weakness, or central nervous system dysfunction; deciding which will require further research. Evaluation of gait may be a useful tool to measure outcome following therapeutic interventions.
Source: Boda WL, Natelson BH, Sisto SA, Tapp WN. Gait abnormalities in chronic fatigue syndrome. J Neurol Sci. 1995 Aug;131(2):156-61. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7595641