Relationship between dynamic balance and spatiotemporal gait symmetry in hemiplegic patients with chronic stroke.
Chang-Man An, Young-Lan Son, Young-Hyun Park and 1 others
PMID 30931042WHAT IT FOUND
For 41 chronic stroke walkers, better standing weight-shifting balance and a narrower walking base went with more even step timing.
Step length symmetry was not clearly related to standing balance.
Key findings
01Temporal step-timing symmetry was positively related to overall dynamic balance during standing and to balance in forward, backward, paretic and non-paretic directions.
02A larger heel-to-heel base of support during gait was negatively related to temporal step-timing symmetry and to spatial step-length symmetry.
03Spatial step-length symmetry was not significantly related to the remaining dynamic balance measures during standing or gait.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study included only 41 patients who could already walk 10 m without aids, so it says little about more dependent stroke survivors. It measured people once and did not test treatment, so it cannot show that improving balance changes gait symmetry. The sample was small, which makes generalising difficult. Lesion location and lower limb proprioception were not considered, although they can affect gait asymmetry. More men than women took part, and the effect of sex was not examined.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest, and the research received no specific grant from any funding agency.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the correlations as proof that balance training improves gait. The study measured associations in one group of independent walkers and did not test any intervention.