Jody A Feld1, Lisa A Zukowski2, Annie G Howard3, Carol A Giuliani1,2, Lori J P Altmann4, Bijan Najafi5, Prudence Plummer6,2. 1. From the Human Movement Science Curriculum, Department of Allied Health Sciences (J.A.F., C.A.G., P.P.). 2. Division of Physical Therapy, Department of Allied Health Sciences (L.A.Z., C.A.G., P.P.). 3. Department of Biostatistics, Carolina Population Center, Gillings School of Global Public Health (A.G.H.), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 4. Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville (L.J.P.A.). 5. Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Interdisciplinary Consortium on Advanced Motion Performance, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX (B.N.). 6. From the Human Movement Science Curriculum, Department of Allied Health Sciences (J.A.F., C.A.G., P.P.) pplummer@email.unc.edu.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Gait speed does not adequately predict whether stroke survivors will be active in the community. This may be because traditional single-task gait speed does not sufficiently reproduce the demands of walking in the real world. This study assessed whether dual-task gait speed accounts for variance in daily ambulatory activity above what can be predicted with habitual (single task) gait speed in community-dwelling stroke survivors. METHODS: Twenty-eight community-dwelling individuals, 58.2 years of age (SD=16.6), 8.9 months poststroke (interquartile range, 3.7-19.4), completed a gait and cognitive task in single- and dual-task conditions. Daily ambulatory activity was captured using a physical activity monitor. A regression analysis examined R2 changes with single- and dual-task gait speed. RESULTS: Single-task gait speed explained 15.3% of the variance in daily ambulatory activity (P=0.04). Adding dual-task gait speed to the regression model increased the variance explained by an additional 20.6% (P=0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Gait speed assessed under attention-demanding conditions may improve explanation of variance in daily ambulatory activity after stroke.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Gait speed does not adequately predict whether stroke survivors will be active in the community. This may be because traditional single-task gait speed does not sufficiently reproduce the demands of walking in the real world. This study assessed whether dual-task gait speed accounts for variance in daily ambulatory activity above what can be predicted with habitual (single task) gait speed in community-dwelling stroke survivors. METHODS: Twenty-eight community-dwelling individuals, 58.2 years of age (SD=16.6), 8.9 months poststroke (interquartile range, 3.7-19.4), completed a gait and cognitive task in single- and dual-task conditions. Daily ambulatory activity was captured using a physical activity monitor. A regression analysis examined R2 changes with single- and dual-task gait speed. RESULTS: Single-task gait speed explained 15.3% of the variance in daily ambulatory activity (P=0.04). Adding dual-task gait speed to the regression model increased the variance explained by an additional 20.6% (P=0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Gait speed assessed under attention-demanding conditions may improve explanation of variance in daily ambulatory activity after stroke.
Authors: Ka-Chun Siu; Robert D Catena; Li-Shan Chou; Paul van Donkelaar; Marjorie H Woollacott Journal: Exp Brain Res Date: 2007-08-24 Impact factor: 1.972
Authors: Mark G Bowden; Chitralakshmi K Balasubramanian; Andrea L Behrman; Steven A Kautz Journal: Neurorehabil Neural Repair Date: 2008 Nov-Dec Impact factor: 3.919