Logo image
Back
Ankle stiffness modulation during different gait speeds in individuals post-stroke
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Ankle stiffness modulation during different gait speeds in individuals post-stroke

Erica H. Hinton, Aaron Likens, Hao-Yuan Hsiao, Benjamin I. Binder-Markey, Stuart A. Binder-Macleod and Brian A. Knarr
Clinical biomechanics (Bristol), v 99, pp 105761-105761
01 Oct 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2022.105761
PMID: 36099707
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2022.105761View
Accepted (AM)Open Access (Publisher-Specific),  Open

Abstract

Engineering Engineering, Biomedical Life Sciences & Biomedicine Orthopedics Science & Technology Sport Sciences Technology
Background: Neurotypical individuals alter their ankle joint quasi-stiffness in response to changing walking speed; however, for individuals post-stroke, the ability to alter their ankle quasi-stiffness is unknown. Individuals post-stroke commonly have weak plantarflexor muscles, which may limit their ability to alter ankle quasi -stiffness. The objective was to investigate the relationship between ankle quasi-stiffness and propulsion, at two walking speeds. We hypothesized that in individuals post-stroke, there would be no difference in their paretic ankle quasi-stiffness between walking at a self-selected versus a fast speed. However, we hypothesized that ankle quasi-stiffness would correlate with gait speed and propulsion across individuals. Methods: Twenty-eight participants with chronic stroke walked on an instrumented treadmill at their self-selected and fast-walking speeds. Multilevel models were used to determine the relationships between ankle quasi -stiffness, speed, and propulsion. Findings: Overall, ankle quasi-stiffness did not increase within individuals from a self-selected to a fast gait speed (p = 0.69). A 1 m/s increase in speed across participants predicted an increase in overall ankle quasi-stiffness of 0.02 Nm/deg./kg (p = 0.03) and a 1 N/BW change in overall propulsion across participants predicted a 0.265 Nm/deg./kg increase in overall ankle quasi-stiffness (p < 0.0001). Interpretation: Individuals post-stroke did not modulate their ankle quasi-stiffness with increased speed, but across individuals there was a positive relationship between ankle quasi-stiffness and both speed and peak propulsion. Walking speed and propulsion are limited in individuals post-stroke, therefore, improving either could lead to a higher functional status. Understanding post-stroke ankle stiffness may be important in the design of therapeutic interventions and exoskeletons, where these devices augment the biological ankle quasi-stiffness to improve walking performance.

Metrics

10 Record Views
5 citations in Web of Science
2 citations in Scopus

Details

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#3 Good Health and Well-Being

InCites Highlights

Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:

Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Engineering, Biomedical
Orthopedics
Sport Sciences
Logo image