People with stroke who fail an obstacle crossing task have a higher incidence of falls and utilise different gait patterns compared with people who pass the task
Author
Said, Catherine M.; Galea, Mary P.; LYTHGO, NOELDate
2013Source Title
Physical TherapyPublisher
American Physical Therapy AssociationAffiliation
Physiotherapy, Melbourne School of Health SciencesDepartment of Medicine
Metadata
Show full item recordDocument Type
Journal ArticleCitations
Said, C. M., Galea, M. P., & Lythgo, N. (2013). People with stroke who fail an obstacle crossing task have a higher incidence of falls and utilise different gait patterns compared with people who pass the task. Physical Therapy, 93(3), 334-344.Access Status
This item is currently not available from this repositoryAccess URL
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23064734NHMRC Grant code
NHMRC/310612Description
Published Version
© 2013 American Physical Therapy Association
The research outputs in this collection have been funded in whole or in part by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).
Abstract
Background: Obstacle crossing is impaired following stroke. It is not known whether people with stroke who fail an obstacle crossing task have more falls, or whether the gait adjustments used to cross an obstacle differ from those used by people who pass the task.
Objective: To identify whether a group of people with stroke who failed an obstacle crossing task had a greater incidence of falling, and to determine whether people who fail an obstacle crossing task utilise different gait adjustments.
Design: This study was a prospective observational study.
Methods: Thirty-two participants with a recent stroke were recruited. Participants walked at self-selected speed and stepped over a 4-cm high obstacle. Performance was rated as pass or fail, and spatiotemporal, centre of mass (COM) and centre of pressure (COP) data were collected. Prospective falls data were recorded for 20 participants over a six month period.
Results: The incidence of fallers in the group that failed the obstacle crossing task was significantly higher (IR =.833) than the group that passed (IR = .143; p = .007). The group that failed had a slower walking speed and greater normalised separation between the trail heel (unaffected support limb) and COM as the affected lead toe cleared the obstacle. This group exhibited greater normalised times from affected lead toe clearance to landing, unaffected trail toe clearance to landing and affected trail toe off to toe clearance.
Limitations: Sample size was small, and falls data were only available for 20 participants.
Conclusions: Obstacle crossing is an important task to consider following stroke and may be useful in identifying those at risk of falls.
Keywords
balance; falls and falls prevention; gait disorders; stroke (geriatrics); stroke (neurology)Export Reference in RIS Format
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