Objectives: To find out whether partial weight bearing can be reproduced and retained.
Design: In vivo experiment in normal subjects.
Intervention: Training for partial weight bearing (25% of body weight) using bathroom scales.
Main outcome measurement: Reproducibility on force platform immediately after training and after 60 min.
Results: Twelve subjects were asked to reproduce 25% of their body weight through either the dominant or non-dominant limb on force platform after three practice attempts on bathroom scales with concurrent visual feedback. No feedback was provided after the measurements on force plate. The process was repeated after 1h without any practice sessions in the interim period to find out if the weight practised could be retained. The mean 0-min reading was found to be 25.9% of body weight while the mean 60-min reading was found to be 24.4%. The p-value for the difference between the two means was found to be 0.3841.
Conclusions: This study indicates that partial weight bearing instructions can be quantified and graded. Simple bathroom scales are sufficient to educate the patients and this can be practised at home after an initial period of supervision.