The Comparison of Consistency of the Result between Analysis of Q1-Q4 Angles in Footprints and Sciatic Functional Indexed in Walking Analysis of Sciatic Nerve Injury Rat Model
Main Article Content
Abstract
Walking analysis with sciatic function index (SFI) of peripheral nerve injury model has been studied and used for a long time. Studies show the applicability of SFI and Q1-Q4 angles as parameters for walking analysis. However, scholars are questioning the effectiveness of SFI in offering conclusive evidence in walking analysis. This systematic review explores the advantages and disadvantages of using Q1-Q4 angles comparing with SFI in walking analysis. This study used three inclusion criteria when identifying the most relevant data. The study is based on secondary data from eight peer-reviewed articles derived from the PROQUEST database and other online sources. The findings show the benefits of using the Q1-Q4 angles compared to SFI since the former solves the problem associated with the latter. In particular, SFI results are affected by muscle contracture and auto-mutilation. Besides, the way that a rat walks and the walking speed affect the results of SFI in walking analysis. In contrast, measuring Q1-Q4 angles gives a consistent outcome. Therefore, Q1-Q4 angles stand out as a promising parameter that gives consistent results to show the difference between a normal and pathological hind limp of a rat. However, the applicability of SFI cannot be ignored since it is still an effective parameter for walking analysis. The strong positive correlation between Q1-Q4 angles and SFI presents a new possibility of using the two parameters together. Therefore, the former can be applied as the main parameter in walking analysis, while the latter can be used as references to confirm the results.