Article

PURPOSE: To describe research evidence supporting clinical recommendations for
ankle-foot orthotic (AFO) prescription and examine common limitations in current
research among individuals with stroke and cerebral palsy. METHOD: Three
databases and one journal website were searched for articles reporting AFO
interventions on gait and functional mobility outcome measures in participants
with stroke or cerebral palsy. The International Society for Prosthetics and
Orthotics (ISPO) best practice recommendations from consensus conferences were
reviewed. Data extracted from the articles include participant characteristics,
AFO intervention details, evaluation methods, and outcome measures. RESULTS:
Sixty articles were included; twenty-seven on stroke and thirty-three on cerebral
palsy participants. Many articles reported insufficient detail on severity of
lower limb impairment. Type of interventions included nineteen nonarticulating
AFO studies, twelve articulating AFO studies and twenty-three studies testing
both. Confounding factors, such as compliance, activity level and footwear, need
to be considered in longitudinal studies. CONCLUSIONS:
Most studies demonstrated
improvement in walking speed and ankle dorsiflexion, whereas the indirect effect
on knee stability remains unclear. Future research needs to provide detailed
information on type and severity of lower limb impairment of participants and
design features of the AFO intervention.

Langue : ANGLAIS