Relationships Between Motor Function and Gait-related Dual-task Interference After Stroke: a Pilot Study

The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the relationships between motor performance measures and dual-task interference in gait among community-dwelling adults with stroke. Dual-task costs on gait were correlated with Fugl-Meyer lower extremity score and usual gait speed in 13 community-dwelling adults with stroke. Individuals with greater lower extremity motor impairment and slower gait speed experienced greater cognitive-motor interference in gait. Paretic single limb stance was particularly susceptible to dual-task interference. Gait speed was only vulnerable to dual-task interference in the most complex dual-task. Thus, global characteristics of gait were vulnerable in the most difficult cognitive tasks, but even easy tasks impaired discrete components of dynamic balance.