INTRODUCTION: Stroke is one of the major causes of neurological deficiencies in the world, and can lead to a wide spectrum of physical deficiencies, including gait performance. These gait abnormalities have a substantial impact on functional activities, lifestyle, and the individual's perceptions about the functionality of daily life and well-being after stroke. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate gait performance, identifying determining which gait components were associated with impaired quality of life in stroke survivors. METHODS: Individuals with  independent gait after a stroke, with or without the use of walking aids such as crutches or canes  were included in the study.  The socio-demographic and clinical data were recorded, then some tests were evaluated, with o 6-minute walk test (6MWT), 10-meters walk test (10MWT), Timed Up & Go (TUG), modified Barthel Index (mBI),National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and European Quality of life – 5 dimensions (EQ-5D). A stepwise multivariable logistic regression model assessed predictors of impaired QoL. RESULTS: A total of 124 individual with a mean age of 66 years and median NIHSS of 3 points were included. The mean EQ-5D was 0.44 (SD 0.38) and 91 individuals (73%) had impaired QoL. There was a positive correlation between 6MWT and EQ-5D (r = 0.48, p <0.001). Increasing age, functional capacity, 6MWT, 10MWT, stroke severity and female sex were associated with impaired QoL (p<0.05). In the multivariable analysis, 6MWT (OR 0.94 per 10m increase, p=0.046), functional capacity (OR 0.66, p=0.022) and age (OR 0.54 per 10 year increase, p=0.002) were associated with impaired QoL. CONCLUSION: Distance walked in 6MWT was the strongest gait aspect independently associated with quality of life in community-dwelling individuals with independent gait after a stroke.

Objective: Studies that assessed motor performance comparing healthy adults and old, shown agerelated differences in several parameters. It is not known whether these differences remain evident when people are under stroke condition. Our aim was to describe clinical and functional characteristics and to compare a dual task performance between older and younger post stroke individuals. Methods: We evaluated hemiparetic patients with independent gait between August/2011 and August/2012. The following scales/tests were applied: NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS), Modified Barthel Index (mBI), Timed Up and Go Test (TUG) and TUG with cognitive task (TUGcog). X2, Fisher tests or Mann Whitney U test were used when appropriated. Results: Amongst 92 participants 54.3% were adults and 45.7% were elder adults. Adults and elder adults presented similar characteristics, although statistical difference was observed at instruction level (P = .01), hypertension (P= .02), verbal fluency (P < .01) and delta time for TUGcog (P < .01). Conclusion: Individuals post stroke in this study presented slightly clinical and functional differences, but it was possible to observe that older need more time to perform multitasking. Probably, age alone is not an important factor in differentiating independent stroke patients. However, postural instability, in elderly patients, should be evaluated more carefully taking into account the attentional demands, since dual task is used in many activities of daily life.

INTRODUCTION: Individuals with human T-cell lymphotropic virus 1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP) experience sensorimotor alterations, which can affect functional performance. Virtual reality (VR) videogaming is a therapeutic option, though there is scarce evidence for its use in this population. We aimed to investigate the therapeutic effects of a VR video game on functional mobility, balance, and gait speed in individuals with HAM/TSP. METHODS: We conducted a blinded, crossover clinical trial comprising 29 individuals with HAM/TSP and randomized them into two groups: (1) early therapy: rehabilitative protocol started immediately after the initial evaluation and (2) late therapy: rehabilitative protocol started 10 weeks later. We assessed all participants for balance using the Berg Balance Scale (BBS) scores, functional mobility using the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, and gait speed using video camera and CvMob software. Differences were considered significant if p <0.05. RESULTS: The early therapy group individuals presented with higher BBS scores ( p =0.415), less TUG times ( p =0.290), and greater gait speed ( p =0.296) than the late therapy group individuals. CONCLUSIONS: VR videogaming is a useful option for rehabilitative therapy in individuals with HAM/TSP; it positively affects balance, functional mobility, and gait speed.

Background Aphasia, the most common language disorder secondary to stroke, has been associated with increased mortality, longer hospitalization and rehabilitation times, worse performance in daily activities, increased financial burden, and short- and long-term complications. Aphasia can negatively impact functional communication skills, including social networks, social activities, relationships with other people and social support. Objective To evaluate patients with poststroke aphasia in their respective residences to investigate potential predictors of functional communication. Methods The prospective cohort included patients with poststroke aphasia aged 18 years or older who resided in the city of Salvador, Northeastern Brazil. Following discharge from the Stroke Unit (SU), the individuals themselves, or their guardians, were contacted by telephone to schedule a home visit no less than three months after discharge. At baseline, sociodemographic and clinical data were collected, in addition to the scores on the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) and modified Barthel Index (mBI). The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Functional Assessment of Communication Skills for Adults (ASHA FACS) was applied at the patients' homes. Multivariate linear regression was employed using the total score on the ASHA FACS as the outcome of interest. Results A multivariate analysis of the associated factors identified using the linear regression revealed that only functional capacity (as assessed by the mBI) upon discharge from the SU remained as an independent predictor of functional communication performance (β = 0.042; 95% confidence interval [95%CI] = 0.013–0.071; p = 0.002). Conclusion The functional capacity to perform daily activities, evaluated upon discharge from a stroke unit, was identified as a potential predictor of functional communication performance, regardless of the time elapsed after the stroke.

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