Evaluation of the Immediate Effect of Trunk bracing on the Energy Expenditure of Walking in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Patients

Background: scoliosis is one of the musculoskeletal disorders which influencesthe performance of patients when walking. there is not enough informationavailable regarding the influence of orthosis on the energy consumptionof scoliotic patients while walking. therefore, the aim of this study was toinvestigate the effect of orthosis on energy consumption.methods: this is an uncontrolled before and after study (quazi-experimental).ten scoliotic patients and 10 normal subjects with comparable age, height andweight were recruited in this study. energy consumption of walking was obtainedfrom the scoliotic patients in two conditions: with and without orthosis as wellas from the normal subjects without orthosis and it was evaluated using polarelectro finland heart rate monitor. the heart rate during resting and walkingand the speed of walking were the parameters used for energy consumptionbased on physiological cost index.results: the energy consumption of scoliotic subjects during walking based onpci (physiological cost index) and thbi (total heart beat index) were higherthan that of normal subjects, but the difference was not significant (p>0.05).trunk bracing induced a little reduction of energy consumption and increasedthe gait efficiency of scoliotic patients.conclusion: the results of this research showed that there was no significantdifference between the pci and thbi of normal and scoliotic subjects. bracinghad no significant effect on gait efficiency of scoliotic patients (p>0.05).