Original articleEffect of Different Walking Aids on Walking Capacity of Patients With Poststroke Hemiparesis
Section snippets
Subjects
Twenty-five hospitalized patients with a first stroke confirmed by computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging scan at an early stage of gait rehabilitation (as soon as the patient was able to walk 10m holding a handrail without therapeutic support) were enrolled in the study. Their gait rehabilitation prior to the study included walking between the parallel bars or alongside a treatment table.
We excluded patients if they were capable of walking more than 5m independently without a
Results
The patients' motor and cognitive function as well as their functional capacity are summarized in table 1. Patients showed mild to moderate motor and functional problems after the evaluation of the FIM (score>100 out of a maximum of 126), the Fugl-Meyer (score>22 out of a maximum of 34), the PASS (score>29 out of a maximum of 36), and the NIHSS (score<7 with a best score of 0 and worst score of 42 points).
Discussion
This study aimed to examine the effects of 3 different canes, widely used in clinical practice, on walking capacity and temporo-spatial gait parameters and to evaluate patients' satisfaction with each type of cane. Our study included patients after a stroke at an early stage of gait rehabilitation, as soon as they were able to walk short distances under supervision, holding a handrail. The study group was relatively homogenous for age, weight, and height and showed similar functional basic
Conclusions
The objective of this study was to examine the effects of 3 different walking aids on walking capacity, temporo-spatial gait parameters, and patients' satisfaction at an early stage of rehabilitation. Overall, the simple cane with the ergonomic handgrip appeared to be the most useful. Patients' subjective preference, which has been neglected in previous studies, needs to be taken into account in order to achieve maximum benefits. Combining the evaluation of gait parameters (speed and walking
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