Abstract
Background: Regulatory activity in the paretic and nonparetic leg of stroke patients is typically determined with center of pressure (CoP) movements obtained from force plates during quiet stance. In this approach, the regulatory activity is not evaluated with respect to its efficacy in maintaining balance. This study assessed the necessity of relating the generated activity to balance performance for a precise estimation of the contribution to balance maintenance.Methods: 9 chronic stroke patients participated in the study. The static balance contribution (SBC) of the paretic leg during quiet stance was determined by dividing the root mean square of the CoP velocity (RMSVCoP) by the sum of the RMSVCoP of the paretic and nonparetic leg. The dynamic balance contribution (DBC) of the paretic leg was determined by using a system-identification technique to relate its generated ankle torque to the sway movements obtained during quasirandom platform perturbations. The SBC and DBC were both expressed as fractions.Results: For all patients the static as well as the dynamic balance contribution was significantly smaller (P < 0.001) in the paretic as in the nonparetic leg. Furthermore, the SBC was significantly (P < 0.10) larger as the DBC.Conclusion: Although easily applicable in a clinical setting, use of the SBC leads to an overestimation of the contribution of the paretic leg. For a more precise estimate, the generated activity has to be related to the balanceperformance.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 215-215 |
Number of pages | 1 |
Journal | Neurorehabilitation and neural repair |
Volume | 20 |
Issue number | 1 |
Publication status | Published - 2006 |
Event | 4th World Congress for NeuroRehabilitation, WCNR 2006 - Hong Kong, Hong Kong Duration: 12 Feb 2006 → 16 Feb 2006 Conference number: 4 |