Association between improved trunk stability and walking capacity using ankle-foot orthosi

Association between improved trunk stability and walking capacity using ankle-foot orthosis in hemiparetic patients with stroke: evidence from

three-dimensional gait analysis

LAN Yue;XU Guang-qing;HUANG Dong-feng;MAO Yu-rong;CHEN Shao-zhen;PEI Zhong;ZENG Jin-sheng

【期刊名称】《中华医学杂志（英文版）》 【年(卷),期】2013(126)020

【摘要】Background Restoration of both normal movement of the pelvis and centre of mass is a primary goal of walking rehabilitation in post-stroke patients because these movements are essential components of effective gait.The aim of this study is to quantitatively analyze the effect of ankle-foot orthosis on walking ability,and to investigate the correlation between improvements in trunk motion and walking capacity.Methods Walking speed,centre of mass displacement,and pelvic movements were examined in 20 post-stroke hemiparetic patients with and without ankle-foot orthosis using three-dimensional motion analysis.Results Using ankle-foot orthosis improved walking speed,pelvic rotation and tilt,and lateral and vertical displacements of the centre of mass (P ＜0.01).Moreover,the gait asymmetry index was significantly decreased (P ＜0.01),and the Functional Ambulation Categories score improved significantly when patients used an