Influence of Systematic Increases in Treadmill Walking Speed on Gait Kinematics After Stroke
By Tyrell, Christine M.; Roos, Margaret A.; Rudolph, Katherine S.; Reisman, Darcy S. ; Physical Therapy (PTJ) , Volume 91, Number 3, pages 392-403Publication Date: March 2011
Study was undertaken to characterize the effect of systematic increases in treadmill speed on common gait deviations observed after stroke. Participants were 20 patients with chronic stroke aged 50 to 78 years, of whom 6 were women. Six participants wore ankle foot orthoses during intervention. Participants walked on a split belt treadmill instrumented with two independent force platforms from which ground reaction force data were collected. Kinematic data were collected with an 8 camera motion capture system. Participants walked at their self-selected speed, their fastest speed, and at two speeds in between. Significant improvements in paretic- and nonparetic-limb step length and in single- and double-limb support were found. Asymmetry of these measures improved only for step length. Significant improvements in paretic hip extension, trailing limb position, and knee flexion during swing also were found as speed increased. No increases in circumduction or hip hiking were found with increasing speed. Study limitations and implications for clinical practice are discussed.
Published by: American Physical Therapy Association (Website:http://www.apta.org)
Link to text: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3048817/?tool=pmcentrez
