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| Research article summary (published 30 May 2009): |
Speed of voluntary stepping in chronic stroke survivors under single- and dual-task conditions: a case-control study.
Full Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate voluntary step behavior of chronic stroke survivors during single- and dual-task conditions and compare the results to healthy age- and sex-matched controls. DESIGN: Case-control. SETTING: Laboratory-based study. PARTICIPANTS: Chronic stroke survivors (n=16) and healthy controls (n=16). INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Forward and backward rapid voluntary stepping were performed as a reaction time task under 2 conditions: (1) awaiting a cutaneous cue (single task), and (2) awaiting a cutaneous cue while performing an attention-demanding task. Step initiation, preparatory and swing phases, foot-off time, and foot-contact time were extracted from center of pressure and ground reaction forceplate data. RESULTS: Chronic stroke survivors were significantly slower than healthy controls in all step parameters under single- and dual-task conditions. For dual compared with single task, the foot-contact time increased from 1295 ms to 1445 ms (12%) in chronic stroke survivors and from 876 ms to 1006 ms (15%) in controls. CONCLUSIONS: The significant increase in step phase's duration during single- and dual-task conditions may be a factor contributing to the large number of falls seen in stroke patients. The interference effects of attention-demanding task were similar between groups, suggesting that both groups used similar strategies. Future research should determine whether step training can improve step decrements in chronic stroke survivors.
Author information
Author/s: Melzer, Itshak (I); Tzedek, Irit (I); Or, Michal (M); Shvarth, Gali (G); Nizri, Oranit (O); Ben-Shitrit, Keren (K); Oddsson, Lars E (LE);
Affiliation: Schwartz Movement Analysis & Rehabilitation Laboratory, Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel. itzikm(-atsign-)bgu.ac.il
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Journal Article
Journal: Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation (Arch Phys Med Rehabil), published in United States. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2009-Jun; vol 90 (issue 6) : pp 927-33
Dates: Created 2009/06/01; Completed 2009/06/17; Revised 2009/10/16;
PMID: 19480867, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 10/16/2009, IMS Date: )
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
Comments and Corrections
ErratumIn: Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2009 Sep;90(9):1643.
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