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Home > Community Treatment Reports > Walking Stick/Cane Treatment Report
What is Walking Stick/Cane?

A walking stick or cane is a tool used by many people to assist walking. It may be used to assist with balance, or to bear weight taking pressure off of muscles. There are many different styles to suit individual needs and preferences.

Reasons used & Efficacy

Reasons and Efficacy
Reasons used # of patients Major Moderate Slight None Can’t tell # of patients evaluated by
Other 354 20
Balance problems 297 30
Stiffness/Spasticity 269 13
Fatigue 80 13
Mobility 80 11
Difficulty walking 75 12

See all 1286 patients currently using Walking Stick/Cane


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Side Effects

Side effects as an overall problem

Severe
2 2%
Moderate
7 8%
Mild
15 17%
None
62 72%

Most commonly reported side effects

Back pain
5 6%
loss of a free hand
4 5%
Shoulder pain
4 5%
some uncoordination with use
3 3%
Social anxiety/phobia
3 3%
Pain
2 2%
  • Mild
  • Moderate
  • Severe

Stop Reasons

Why Patients Stopped Using (multiple reasons could be selected)
Reason # Patients Percentage of patients
Other
54 57% Other: 57%
Course of treatment ended
15 16% Course of treatment ended: 16%
Did not seem to work
13 14% Did not seem to work: 14%
Not indicated
7 7% Not indicated: 7%
Side effects too severe
4 4% Side effects too severe: 4%
Doctor's advice
4 4% Doctor's advice: 4%
Personal research
2 2% Personal research: 2%

See all 92 patients who’ve stopped using Walking Stick/Cane

Duration See details about how long patients take this treatment ▼

How Long Current Patients Have Been Using Walking Stick/Cane

0-1 month 1-3 months 3-6 months 6 months-1year 1-2 years 2 years or more
1
7
7
66
137
336

How Long Patients Used Before Stopping

0-1 month 1-3 months 3-6 months 6 months-1year 1-2 years 2 years or more
7
8
11
10
13
44

Adherence, Burden & Cost See details from patient evaluations ▼

Adherence

Taking treatment as prescribed

Always
42 49%
Usually
33 38%
Sometimes
8 9%
Never
3 3%

Burden

Difficulty being on treatment

Very
6 7%
Somewhat
11 13%
A little
21 24%
Not at all
48 56%

Cost

Paid out of pocket

$200+
0 0%
$100-199
1 1%
$50-99
0 0%
$25-49
0 0%
< $25
33 38%

Report created on November 24, 2009.