Primary and secondary gait deviations of stroke survivors and their association with gait performance.
Hyung-Sik Kim, Soon-Cheol Chung, Mi-Hyun Choi and 7 others
PMID 27799710WHAT IT FOUND
Five stroke survivors had less ankle, knee, and hip motion than five healthy controls, but more pelvic tilt, rotation, and side-to-side movement.
On the affected side, knee, hip, and pelvic motion were seen with slower walking and shorter steps.
Key findings
01Stroke survivors had smaller ankle, knee, and hip ranges of motion than healthy controls.
02Stroke survivors had larger pelvic tilt and pelvic rotation ranges of motion than controls.
03For the affected side, knee, hip, pelvic tilt, and pelvic rotation were reported as main contributors to gait performance, but ankle motion was not.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only five stroke survivors and five controls were studied, so one unusual participant could change the result. The controls were young men and were not age matched to the stroke survivors, so some differences may reflect age rather than stroke. The study measured kinematics only, not joint power, so it cannot explain why the patterns occurred. No intervention was tested, so the associations do not show that changing pelvic or joint motion will improve walking. All participants walked without an orthosis or weight support, so results may not apply to patients who use these supports. The stroke group had voluntary knee movement dysfunction and impaired gait, so findings may not apply to stroke survivors without these problems.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that correcting pelvic motion will improve walking speed or step length. The study was observational, included only five stroke survivors and five young controls, and tested no treatment.