Biomechanical Variables Related to Walking Performance 6-months Following Post-stroke Rehabilitation

Overview

Journal Clin Biomech (Bristol)

Date 2012 Aug 25

PMID 22917626

Citations 20

Authors

A L Hall

M G Bowden

S A Kautz

R R Neptune

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Body-weight supported treadmill training has been shown to be effective in improving walking speed in post-stroke hemiparetic subjects, and those that have shown improvements generally maintain them after the completion of rehabilitation. However, currently no biomechanical variables are known to be related to those who will either continue to improve or regress in their self-selected walking speed during the 6-month period following rehabilitation. The objective of this study was to identify those biomechanical variables that are associated with subjects who continue (or did not continue) to improve their self-selected walking speed following the completion of rehabilitation.

Methods: Experimental kinematic and kinetic data were recorded from 18 hemiparetic subjects who participated in a 6-month follow-up study after completing a 12-week locomotor training program that included stepping on a treadmill with partial body weight support and manual assistance. Pearson correlation coefficients were used to determine which biomechanical variables evaluated during the post-training session were related to changes in self-selected walking speed from post-training to a 6-month follow-up session.

Findings: Following the completion of rehabilitation, the majority of subjects increased or retained (i.e., did not change) their self-selected walking speed from post-training to the follow-up session. Post-training step length symmetry and daily step activity were positively related to walking speed improvements.

Interpretation: Motor control deficits that lead to persistent step length asymmetry and low daily step activity at the end of rehabilitation are associated with poorer outcomes six months after completion of the program.

Citing Articles

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Monitoring walking asymmetries and endpoint control in persons living with chronic stroke: Implications for remote diagnosis and telerehabilitation.

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Merged swing-muscle synergies and their relation to walking characteristics in subacute post-stroke patients: An observational study.

Mizuta N, Hasui N, Nishi Y, Higa Y, Matsunaga A, Deguchi J PLoS One. 2022; 17(2):e0263613.

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Targeting Paretic Propulsion and Walking Speed With a Soft Robotic Exosuit: A Trial.

Porciuncula F, Baker T, Arumukhom Revi D, Bae J, Sloutsky R, Ellis T Front Neurorobot. 2021; 15:689577.

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Dynamic balance during walking adaptability tasks in individuals post-stroke.

Vistamehr A, Balasubramanian C, Clark D, Neptune R, Fox E J Biomech. 2018; 74:106-115.

PMID: 29724539 PMC: 6114086. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2018.04.029.

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