Effects of an ankle-foot orthosis on spatiotemporal parameters and energy cost of hemiparetic gait

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of an ankle-foot orthosis on the gait and energy parameters of walking in chronic hemiparetic subjects. DESIGN: With/without group comparison. SETTING: Consecutive patients recruited from the gait analysis laboratory of our rehabilitation department. SUBJECTS: A group of nine chronic hemiparetic patients, with the same gait pattern alteration, were evaluated during walking at free speed with and without the use of an orthosis. OUTCOME MEASURES: Gait analysis and study of energy cost. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The orthosis significantly improved self-selected speed (15.47 versus 21.39 m/min), stride cycle (2.33 versus 2.08 s), stance (1.83 versus 1.48 s) and double support (1.55 versus 1.16 s) and reduced energy cost (0.76 versus 0.49 ml O2/kg/m) of walking without affecting cardiorespiratory response. Moreover, a significant correlation was found between the improvement of double support and the reduction of energy cost.