Article

OBJECTIVE: To perform kinematic and kinetic analyses on the static standing and
ambulation in subjects after stroke with and without wearing a 5-degree
lateral-wedged insole. DESIGN: Ten hemiparetic individuals with unilateral stroke
were recruited. Participants performed quiet stance and ambulation with no insole
wedge, paretic side wedged, and nonparetic side wedged in a random order. The
vertical ground reaction force and temporal-spatial parameters of gait were
measured. Symmetry index was also calculated. RESULTS: During quiet stance, the
symmetry index of weight bearing improved significantly with nonparetic
side-wedged (P < 0.017), but not with paretic side-wedged insoles. During
ambulation, the symmetry indices of kinematic and kinetic measurements in the
frontal plane were not significantly different among the three conditions.
However, the contralateral knee abductor moment was significantly (P < 0.05) less
than that of the nonparetic limb during nonparetic side-wedged ambulation. The
ipsilateral hip and knee abductor moments were significantly (P < 0.05) less than
the nonparetic limb during paretic side-wedged ambulation. CONCLUSIONS:
Application of nonparetic side wedge insole can improve stance symmetry and tends
to reduce the paretic knee abductor load during ambulation. The effects of
paretic side-wedged insole are different. The present results provide guidelines
for the placement of wedges in the shoes of individuals after stroke.

Langue : ANGLAIS