The influence of an ankle foot orthosis on the percentage of weight loading during standing tasks in stroke patients

Abstract

[Purpose] The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of an ankle foot orthosis on weight-bearing abilities of stroke patients by comparing weight loading during performance of tasks in various standing positions on the affected side. [Subjects and Methods] This study was performed with 16 stroke patients. To measure the weight loading value and percentage of weight loading in affected lower extremities, 5 standing tasks were performed with and without an ankle foot orthosis in random order. [Results] In the rising from a chair, maintaining a standing position, and forward weight shifting tasks, the affected lower extremities showed a significantly higher percentage of weight loading with an ankle foot orthosis. In the tasks requiring weight shifting to one leg, weight shifting to the lateral side showed the best weight-bearing ability with or without an ankle foot orthosis, followed by the forward and backward weight shifting, respectively. There were statistically significant correlations in all 5 tasks with or without an ankle foot orthosis. [Conclusion] An ankle foot orthosis improves the weight-bearing ability, especially when shifting weight forward, resulting in increased weight-bearing ability in activities of daily living tasks such as quiet standing and rising from a chair. The 5 tasks in this study would be a fine assessment tool under clinical conditions to investigate the postural stability of the affected side with or without application of an ankle foot orthosis.

A user-centered qualitative study on experiences with ankle-foot orthoses and suggestions for improved design

“…22 We only found studies on AFO users with spastic ankle muscle paresis standing up from a chair. 23,24 Both studies found a better weight distribution with AFOs 23,24 but did not report participant’s ideas on the importance or difficulty of standing up from a chair, which is an opportunity for future research.…”

The influence of an ankle-foot orthosis on the spatiotemporal gait parameters and functional balance in chronic stroke patients

“…Besides gait, it was hypothesized that balance would also be positively affected by wearing an AFO. Prior studies have reported that wearing an AFO provided mediolateral stability during stance 6 , 7 , 10 , 11 , 24 , 33 , 34 , 35 ) and corrected the ankle joint alignment 3 , 6 ) . These changes can positively influence the balance, which is confirmed by the data and results from the GAITRite ® .…”

Post‐stroke ankle‐foot orthoses: Examining referral trends in the Scottish multi‐disciplinary team

“…The question wording and choices for the survey were informed by the BPS, 11 Bowers and Ross' paper on the development of the BPS, 9 papers regarding AFO use in post-stroke patients, 4,5,10,[12][13][14][15][22][23][24][25][26] discussion with experts and information from books, and papers regarding designing health care surveys. [17][18][19][20][21][27][28][29][30][31] The wording of the multiple-choice responses to five questions was taken directly from the Screening Tool associated with the BPS to assess participants' understanding and ability to use this Tool.…”

“…Their use is supported for post‐stroke patients by SIGN Guideline 118, the International Society of Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO) Consensus Conference on Stroke, and the Best Practice Statement: Use of Ankle‐Foot Orthoses Following Stroke (BPS) . AFOs have been shown to improve walking speed, weight bearing asymmetry, stride length, patient self‐confidence, and completion of functional tests in post‐stroke patients.…”