Changes in Postural Control in Hemiplegic Patients After Stroke Performing a Dual Task
Abstract
Bensoussan L, Viton J-M, Schieppati M, Collado H, Milhe de Bovis V, Mesure S, Delarque A. Changes in postural control in hemiplegic patients after stroke performing a dual task.
Objective
To determine the effects of an attentional task on hemiplegic patients’ postural control performances.
Design
Retrospective study.
Setting
Department of physical and rehabilitation medicine at a university hospital.
Participants
Twenty-three hemiplegic patients and 23 healthy age- and sex-matched control subjects.
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
Sway area and sway path of the center of pressure were measured during 30 seconds in standing subjects and patients under 3 conditions: eyes open (EO), EO while performing a simple arithmetic task (EO-AT), and eyes closed (EC).
Results
In the hemiplegic patients, the body sway area increased significantly with EC (P<.001) and during the EO-AT task (P<.017) in comparison with EO. Sway area with EO-AT remained, however, significantly smaller than with EC (P<.014). In the healthy subjects, the body sway did not differ significantly between the EO-AT and EO tasks (P<.42). The increase observed in the sway area and path in the hemiplegic population during the EO-AT task correlated significantly with age.
Conclusions
The postural performances of hemiplegic patients decreased during both the arithmetic task and the EC task. The cognitive task had no effect on healthy subjects’ postural performances. This study is the first to show the combined effects of age and dual task on the postural performances of hemiplegic subjects.
aDepartment of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, University of the Mediterranean, Public Hospital System of Marseilles, University Hospital la Timone, Marseilles, France
bCSAM, Human Movement Laboratory, Salvatore Maugeri Foundation, Scientific Institute of Pavia, and Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
cMovement and Perception, UMR 6152, Faculty of Sport Science, Marseilles, France.
Reprint requests to Laurent Bensoussan, MD, Fédération de Médecine Physique et de Réadaptation, CHU Timone, 264 rue Saint-Pierre, 13005 Marseille, France
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the authors or upon any organization with which the authors are associated.
ABSTRACT