Background: Partial weight bearing is thought to avoid excessive loading that may interfere with the healing\r\nprocess after surgery of the pelvis or the lower extremity. The object of this study was to investigate the\r\nrelationship between the ability to partially weight bear and the patient�s psychomotor skills and an additional\r\nevaluation of the possibility to predict this ability with a standardized psychomotor test.\r\nMethods: 50 patients with a prescribed partial weight bearing at a target load of 15 kg following surgery were\r\nverbally instructed by a physical therapist. After the instruction and sufficient training with the physical therapist\r\nvertical ground reaction forces using matrix insoles were measured while walking with forearm crutches.\r\nAdditionally, psychomotor skills were tested with the Motorische Leistungsserie (MLS). To test for correlations\r\nSpearman�s Rank correlation was used. For further comparison of the two groups a Mann-Withney test was\r\nperformed using Bonferroni correction.\r\nResults: The patient�s age and body weight significantly correlated with the ability to partially weight bear at a 15\r\nkg target load. There were significant correlations between several subtests of the MLS and ground reaction forces\r\nmeasured while walking with crutches. Patients that were able to correctly perform partial weight bearing showed\r\nsignificant better psychomotor skills especially for those subtests where both hands had to be coordinated\r\nsimultaneously.\r\nConclusions: The ability to partially weight bear is associated with psychomotor skills. The MLS seems to be a tool\r\nthat helps predicting the ability to keep within the prescribed load limits.
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