Clinical Test Results for the Quadstep Combination Walking Stick and Low Step

Origin

The Quadstep was created by Ron Wallum, who came up with the idea in 1989, to help his active, 83-year old mother with the stairs leading up to her second-floor flat. Ron's mother was suffering from arthritis at the time and she found that the Quadstep made it possible for her to go to and from her flat unassisted.

Key Results

Climbing and descending stairs requires less muscle effort than climbing or descending stairs unaided. The angle of movement of the knee is greatly reduced when going up and down stairs with the Quadstep. However the angle moved by the hip is relatively unchanged.

Clinical Study

The Physiotherapy Department of the University of North Dakota conducted a comparitive study of muscle activity and the range of motion (ROM) required to ascend and descend stairs with and without the Quadstep. This has been published: T.M.Mohr, C.E.Staloch, J.L. Brekhus, B.J.Behrens, T.L.Lewis, R.L.Maybey, 'Electromyographic and Electrogoniometric Study of Stair Climbing Using the EZ-Step and Quad-Step Devices', Phys. Occup. Ther. Geriatr. 2010, 28(1), 1-12.

This showed that when the Quadstep was used, both the range of motion of the leg, and the amount of muscle usage were both statistically significantly reduced when climbing or descending stairs.

Figure 1, below, shows the muscle activity of major leg muscles. The columns in red are when the person walks unaided and the columns in green are when the person uses the Quadstep. The darker colours are when the person is going up the stairs and the lighter colour is when they are going down stairs. As you can clearly see from the graph, when the person is using the Quadstep (green columns) the muscle activity is less than when they are using the stairs unaided. This means that climbing the stairs requires less effort- it is easier to climb and descend stairs when the Quadstep is used.

graph of muscle activity with and without the Quadstep when climbing or descending stairs Figure 1. Muscle Activity Expressed as a Percentage of Original

Figure 2, below, shows the degreen of motion of the knee and hip- the extent to which they have to bend in order to go up and down stairs. Again the same convention has been used, with the columns in red for when the person walks unaided and the columns in green are for when the person uses the Quadstep. The darker colours are when the person is going up the stairs and the lighter colour is when they are going down stairs. It is clearly seen that the angle of movement of the knee is greatly reduced when going up and down stairs with the Quadstep. However, with the hip, there is much less effect, especially when going down stairs.

graph of the range of motion of the knee and hip when using the Quadstep to help go up or down stairs
Figure 2. Range of Motion of the Knee and Hip with and without the Quadstep