Evaluation of walkers for elderly people

The aim of this study was to evaluate three types of walkers for elderly people. Four elderly patients participated in the study. The experiments were performed using three walkers: a familiar conventional folding walker, a caster walker and a power-assisted walker. We evaluated walking speed, body acceleration and an electromyogram of the gastrocnemius during use of each walker. The results indicated that walkers should be selected according to the patient´s walking ability. Comparison between power-assisted walker and parallel bar, the walking speed in power-assisted walker is higher than that in parallel bar. Power-assisted walkers are suitable for patients who are used to using a wheelchair.