| Keywords |
AFO (ankle foot orthosis) ; Balance ; Hemiplegic stroke patients |
| Abstract |
The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes of postural control and the effect of ankle foot orthosis (AFO) on the static balance in patients with post-stroke hemiplegia. Fourteen hemiplegic stroke patients with independent ambulation more than 10 m were included. The movement of center of gravity (COG) during static postural control was measured with Biodex Balance System SD® (Biodex Medical System, New York, USA) at three different conditions (barefoot, shoes and AFO) randomly for three times on same condition. Percent (%) time in quadrant(anterior, posterior, left and right), overall, anterior-posterior and medio-lateral movement index were measured. COG were distributed to the right and posterior quadrant during static standing for maintaining postural stability in patients with post-stroke hemiplegia, and this patterns were not changed with shoes or AFO application. There was tendency of weight shift to the sound side for maintaining postural stability in hemiplegic patients, but not statistically significant. Application of AFO displayed lower overall (p<0.002), anterior-posterior (p<0.008) and medio-lateral instability index scores (p<0.008) than barefoot. The impaired static postural control in patients with post-stroke hemiplegia was improved with AFO application. |