Article

Ankle-foot orthoses could be utilized both with and without shoes.
While several studies have shown that ankle-foot orthoses improve gait abilities
in hemiplegic patients, it remains unclear whether they should be used with shoes
or without. OBJECTIVES: The study purpose was to compare the effect of standard
shoes and rocker shoes on functional mobility in post-stroke hemiplegic patients
utilizing ankle-foot orthosis. STUDY DESIGN: Randomized clinical study. METHODS:
Thirty post-stroke hemiplegic patients participated in this study randomly
assigned to two groups. Group I received standard shoes + ankle-foot orthosis and
group II were provided with rocker shoes + ankle-foot orthosis. Their functional
mobility and energy expenditure parameters including timed up and go, timed up
stairs, timed down stairs, preferred walking speed, and oxygen (O2) cost
(mL/kg/m) were measured. RESULTS: In group I, no significant changes were seen in
outcome measures after wearing standard shoes. While in group II, O2 cost and
timed up and go time significantly decreased, and preferred walking speed
increased when patients wore rocker shoes. Also, there was a significant
difference between rocker shoes and standard shoes in improvement of timed up and
go, preferred walking speed, and O2 cost. CONCLUSION: When patients using
ankle-foot orthosis wore rocker shoes, their functional mobility improved and
oxygen cost diminished. Also, rocker shoes was significantly more effective than
standard shoes in improving functional mobility parameters. CLINICAL RELEVANCE:
This study suggests that in post-stroke hemiplegic patients using ankle-foot
orthosis, wearing rocker shoes can lead to much more improved functional mobility
and decreased energy expenditure compared to ankle-foot orthosis only. Thus, in
stroke patients, the combination of ankle-foot orthosis-rocker shoes is
recommended for both rehabilitation programs and ankle-foot orthosis efficacy
investigations.
CI - (c) The International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics 2015.

Langue : ANGLAIS