Gait and balance performance improvements attributable to ankle-foot orthosis in subjects with hemiparesis

Objective: To assess the change in the balance performance and the improvement in the gait performance of subjects with hemiparesis, as a result of their wearing an ankle-foot orthosis. Design: This was a cross-sectional control trial. Fifty-eight subjects with hemiparesis of a duration of less than 6 mos participated in this study. Each subject was evaluated for the balance and gait performance with and without an ankle-foot orthosis on the affected side. The balance activities were evaluated by the Balance Master System, and the gait performance was measured using GAITRite. Results: The increase in movement velocity and the change in maximal excursion toward the affected side during the balance testing were found to be correlated significantly with the change in walking speed as a result of wearing an ankle-foot orthosis (r = 0.274, P = 0.039; r = 0.325, P = 0.020; respectively). Only the change in maximal excursion toward the affected side was found to be significantly correlated with the change in nonaffected step length (r = 0.38 1, P = 0.0 10). Conclusion: The maximal excursion toward the affected side improved as a result of wearing an ankle-foot orthosis. This correlated with an increase in step length on the nonaffected side and, hence, an improvement in the walking speed of the subjects with hemiparesis.