Effects of an Ankle-foot Orthosis on Spatiotemporal Parameters and Energy Cost of Hemiparetic Gait

Objective: To assess the effect of an ankle-foot orthosis on the gait and energy parameters of walking in chronic hemiparetic subjects.

Design: With/without group comparison.

Setting: Consecutive patients recruited from the gait analysis laboratory of our rehabilitation department.

Subjects: A group of nine chronic hemiparetic patients, with the same gait pattern alteration, were evaluated during walking at free speed with and without the use of an orthosis.

Outcome Measures: Gait analysis and study of energy cost.

Results And Conclusion: The orthosis significantly improved self-selected speed (15.47 versus 21.39 m/min), stride cycle (2.33 versus 2.08 s), stance (1.83 versus 1.48 s) and double support (1.55 versus 1.16 s) and reduced energy cost (0.76 versus 0.49 ml O2/kg/m) of walking without affecting cardiorespiratory response. Moreover, a significant correlation was found between the improvement of double support and the reduction of energy cost.