Abstract

The Percentage of Occurrence of Turning Difficulty in Hemiplegic Stroke Survivors

Background: Turning difficulty has been reported after stroke. However, the percentage of occurrence has not been determined. Exploration into the association between turning and trunk function and activities of daily living (ADL) has been limited. This study aims to calculate the percentage of occurrence of turning difficulty after stroke, and investigate the relationship between turning and measures of physical impairments, balance, walking ability, and ADL in stroke survivors. Methods and Findings: All participants were evaluated on their turning performance. SPs received an additional assessment of the Chedoke-McMaster Stroke Assessment Inventory (CMSA), Trunk Impairment Scale (TIS), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Falls Efficacy Scale International (FES-I), 10-meter walk test (10MWT), and Frenchay Activity Index (FAI). The results showed that more than half of participating SPs were determined to experience turning difficulty in terms of turn time (53%), number of steps taken (57%), strategy (100%), and balance (70%). A moderate correlation was found between turn time and balance and all of the remaining measurements, with the exception of the FES-I and FAI. The number of turn steps and strategy were not correlated with any other measurements. Conclusions: The majority of SPs suffered from turning difficulty identifying by over 3 seconds of turn time, at least five turn steps, an ineffective step strategy with instability during turning. Their turning performance was moderately associated with motor recovery of the paretic lower limbs, trunk control, balance, and walking ability but not correlated to concerns about falling and ADL.


Author(s): Pei-Jung Liang, Jing-Yan Chen and Shu-Chun Lee*

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