A method to measure the accuracy of loads in knee-ankle-foot orthoses using conventional gait analysis, applied to persons with poliomyelitis.

Objectives: To determine (1) the forces and moments passing through knee-ankle-foot orthoses (KAFOs) during walking and (2) the accuracy with which these loads can be measured using conventional gait analysis techniques.

Design: Comparative case series.

Setting: Rehabilitation facility with human movement laboratory (gait lab).

Evaluation of the validity of the prosthetic upper extremity functional index for children.

Objective: To evaluate the validity of the Prosthetic Upper Extremity Functional Index (PUFI), a parent- and older child-report measure that evaluates the extent of Prosthetic limb use, ease of task performance with and without the prosthesis, and its usefulness.

Design: Evaluation of discriminant validity (the PUFI's ability to detect differences between children), construct validity (between the parent-report PUFI and University of New Brunswick Test of Prosthetic Function [UNB Test]), and criterion validity (comparison of parent-report PUFI responses with an assessor's scores of a child's performance of PUFI activities).

Setting: Four pediatric amputee clinics.