Article

Dual tasking can interfere with activity after stroke.
OBJECTIVE: The
authors examined the interactions between 3 different cognitive tasks and the
swing and double-limb support (DLS) components of the gait cycle in
community-dwelling individuals poststroke. Acquisition of cognitive and
gait data were synchronized to study the cognitive-motor interference effects
during the different phases of the gait cycle. Participants performed 3 different
cognitive tasks in isolation and in combination with walking as well as a single
walking task. Tasks were performed continuously for 3 minutes, generating 131 +/-
39 gait cycles per person for analysis for each walking trial. Data were analyzed
for 8 participants 7.6 +/- 4.2 months poststroke. RESULTS:
A significant increase
was found in the proportion of the gait cycle spent in DLS in dual-task walking
because of an increased duration of the DLS phase associated with paretic weight
acceptance. There was a significant dual-task effect on nonparetic swing
duration: participants reduced the amount of time in paretic single-limb stance
in the 3 dual-task conditions. Temporal asymmetry of gait did not increase
significantly under dual-task conditions. Reaction times were not affected by
whether the stimuli were present during the swing or DLS phase of the gait cycle.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this pilot study provide evidence that
cognitive-motor interference during gait may be influenced by the phase of the
gait cycle, especially DLS involving paretic weight acceptance, which may affect
community ambulators with hemiparetic stroke.

Langue : ANGLAIS