Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of treadmill exercise on the posture and walking speed of chronic stroke survivors with an ankle-foot orthosis.
Design: Randomized controlled trial.
Methods: Twenty-four chronic persons with chronic stroke admitted to Bobath Memorial Hospital in Seongnam city were divided into two groups by random blind method. Treadmill exercise with an elastic ankle-foot orthosis was performed in the experimental group and treadmill exercise was performed in the control group. The experiment was carried out for 6 weeks, and the experiment was carried out three times a week for 20 minutes per session. To measure the effect, static balance was measured using the MTD system before and after training, and the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) was used to measure functional balance.
Results: There was a statistically significant difference between the 2 groups in the BBS measurement results for confirming the functional balance (p<0.05). Also, there was a significant difference between the 2 groups in single limb support time, step time and step length (p<0.05).
Conclusions: In this study, it was found that treadmill exercise with an elastic ankle-foot orthosis in persons with chronic stroke was effective in maintaining functional balance, walking ability, step length, and step time. Therefore, it is necessary to use a flexible ankle-foot orthosis with proper treadmill exercise as a method of improving balance and walking speed of chronic stroke survivors.
Introduction
Stroke is a disease in which blood supply to the brain is blocked due to a cause such as heart disease or cerebrovascular disease, or a disorder that causes bleeding in the brain tissue. When individuals experience a stroke, 9% of them are likely to recover to their original state, and 73% of them will experience impairment in movement, language, sensation, and cognition, depending on where the lesion occurred in the brain, even if recovery is possible [1,2].
Postural stability, which is a necessary ability to maintain the body’s center of mass and to complete purposeful movement, is decreased causing balance deterioration in stroke survivors, which is a common problem. Unbalanced mobilization of muscles on the affected side causes postural instability and increased postural fluctuations, which increases the risk of falls and may cause death [3]. Balance is the process of maintaining postural stability, which consists of static balance, which is the ability to keep the center of the body static at the base, and dynamic balance, which is the ability to maintain the center of the body on the base surface that moves when movement occurs [4]. Balance in a standing position is closely related to weight transfer ability, which is essential for functional mobility and daily activities
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TBI Rehabilitation 