Article

Recent rehabilitation efforts after stroke often focus on increasing
walking speed because it is associated with quality of life.
For individuals
poststroke, propulsive force generated from the paretic limb has been shown to be
correlated to walking speed. However, little is known about the relative
contribution of the paretic versus the nonparetic propulsive forces to changes in walking speed.
The primary purpose of this study was to determine the
contribution of propulsive force generated from each limb to changes in walking
speed during speed modulation within a session and as a result of a 12-week
training program. METHODS: Gait analysis was performed as participants (N = 38)
with chronic poststroke hemiparesis walked at their self-selected and faster
walking speeds on a treadmill before and after a 12-week gait retraining program.
RESULTS: Prior to training, stroke survivors increased nonparetic propulsive
forces as the primary mechanism to change walking speed during speed modulation
within a session. Following gait training, the paretic limb played a larger role
during speed modulation within a session. In addition, the increases in paretic
propulsive forces observed following gait training contributed to the increases
in the self-selected walking speeds seen following training. CONCLUSIONS: Gait
retraining in the chronic phase of stroke recovery facilitates paretic limb
neuromotor recovery and reduces the reliance on the nonparetic limb's generation
of propulsive force to increase walking speed. These findings support gait
rehabilitation efforts directed toward improving the paretic limb's ability to
generate propulsive force.
CI - (c) The Author(s) 2015.

Langue : ANGLAIS