Effects of an Ankle-Foot Orthosis on Gait While Performing an Attention Demanding Task

Effects of an Ankle-Foot Orthosis on Gait While Performing an Attention Demanding Task in People With Poststroke Hemiplegia

Status

Completed

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT01320839

Enrollment

Registered

2011-03-23

Start date

2011-03-31

Completion date

2013-11-30

Last updated

2014-03-07

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Gait, Hemiplegic, Stroke

Brief summary

We hypothesize that: (1) gait stability will be increased when wearing an ankle-foot orthosis (plastic brace supporting the foot and ankle); (2) an attention demanding task will decrease gait stability and (3) the improvement in gait stability due to ankle-foot orthosis use will be greater during an attention demanding task.

Detailed description

A quasi-experimental, randomized 2 x 2 factorial within subjects study with the factor of walking condition (2 levels, walking with and without ankle-foot orthotic device) and attention condition (2 levels, walking with and without attention task).

Interventions

None listed

Study design

Observational model

CASE_CROSSOVER

Time perspective

CROSS_SECTIONAL

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to No maximum

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* be over the age of 18; * have the presence of hemiplegia after stroke; * be wearing an ankle-foot orthosis for at least 6 weeks; * be able to walk independently and comfortably for a minimum distance of 12 m with or without assistive aids (AFOs, canes and walkers); * be able to read and understand English, follow verbal instructions and provide verbal answers to questions; * be able to reach criterion on the attention task (described below) * be competent to give informed consent as determined by clinical team and noted in the health chart

Exclusion criteria

* have history of balance deficits not related to stroke; * be at high risk of falling during the study; * suffer from severe aphasia or dementia as determined by health chart and/or initial cognitive screening using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test.

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Velocity	up to one week	walking velocity

Secondary

Measure	Time frame	Description
trunk acceleration	up to one week	trunk acceleration during walking
Step length variability	up to one week	variability of right and left step length during walking
The Berg Balance Scale	up to one week	Functional balance measured using the Berg Balance Scale short form.

Countries

Canada

Outcome results