Background: Ankle Foot Orthoses (AFOs) are often prescribed in patients with drop foot. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the novel designed storing-restoring hybrid passive AFO versus Posterior Leaf Spring (PLS) AFO on the peak and timing of vertical component of ground reaction force (vGRF) in patients with drop foot. Objectives: the effect of novel designed storing-restoring hybrid passive AFO versus posterior leaf spring AFO on the peak and timing of Vertical Ground Reaction Force (vGRF) in drop foot patients. Methods: Ten adults with drop foot (7 males and 3 females) were included in this study. Then, these patients walked at a self-selected speed with two AFOs. For each trial, the vGRF components were obtained using a Kistler force plate. Results: the Independent t-test results showed a significant increase in the impact force in spring damper AFO than PLS (p<0.001). Significant differences were also found in the first and third peaks of vertical force and time of occurrence as well as the first minimum force and time of occurrence in spring damper than PLS AFO (p<0.001). Conclusion: the novel AFO affects not only the impact force and peak of vGRF but also the timing of these forces. These changes indicate an improvement in the overall performance of the novel AFO.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.