INFLUENCE OF FOOT POSITIONING ON COP MEASURES OF POST STROKE PATIENTS IN QUIET STANDING

Publication date: Available online 9 August 2018

Source: Gait & Posture

Author(s): Tatiane Caroline Boumer, Suzane Ketlyn Martello, Gisele Francini Devetak, Dielise Debona Iucksch, Nicoly Scrok, Elisangela Ferretti Manffra

Abstract

Background

Foot placement is an important methodological parameter in experiments that analyse the behavior of the center of pressure (CoP) at quiet standing. In the case of stroke patients, this is a relevant issue, as the standardized position, usually adopted is not ecological.

Reseach question

Do between limb synchronization, weight-bearing symmetry and amplitude of the postural sway of post-stroke individuals differ between standardized and comfortable foot positioning during quiet standing?

Methods

A total of 36 volunteers (20 with stroke and 16 healthy) stood barefoot, for 60 s, on two force plates with feet in a comfortable and a standardized position (14° of external rotation and heels 17 cm apart). Three trials were performed in each position and the average values among themwere analyzed.

Results

The comfortable position adopted by stroke individuals was characterized by the heels 17 cm apart and 21° of external rotation. None of the the measures of the healthy group were influenced by feet positioning. In the stroke group, the lag to maximal between-feet correlation in the mediolateral direction (ML ρ_max lag) higher (0.45 s), and the weight bearing symmetry was better in the comfortable condition (38%), in comparison to the standardized one (0.19 s and 32% respectively). Neither the other CoP measures were sensitive to feet positioning, nor the intra-subject variability.

Significance

The assumption that standardization leads to reduced variability might not be valid to the post-stroke and healthy individuals with age around 55 years old. Therefore, the adoption of a comfortable might be advantageous, once it allows evaluating postural control in more practically and realistically.

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