Characteristics of Ground Reaction Force During Walking in Post-Stroke Patients

Gait impairment in post-stroke patients increases the risk of falls, but the role of ground reaction force variability (GRF variability) in controlling gait stability remains unclear. This study aimed to characterize GRF variability during walking in post-stroke patients. 16 post-stroke patients (age: 72.19 ± 8.54, 6 female, 4 fallers: age: 71.75 ± 11.32, 12 non-fallers: age: 72.33 ± 8.03) and 19 age-matched healthy controls (age: 68.63 ± 5.73, 9 female) participated. GRF variability was measured using shoe sensors during walking. After adjusting for walking speed, the anterior-posterior (AP) GRF variability on the paretic side in the 91 – 100% stance phase was significantly lower in the post-stroke patients (p = 0.038). This phase’s AP GRF variability was not correlated with Berg Balance Scale scores. Furthermore, the faller group in stroke patients showed the AP GRF variability on the paretic side was lower in the 11 – 20% (p = 0.045), 41 – 50% to 61 – 70% stance phases (p = 0.045, p = 0.034, p = 0.034) after adjusting for sex and orthosis. This suggests that AP GRF variability on the paretic side is involved in the maintenance of walking stability in post-stroke patients.