Gait Training in Stroke
Original Editor - Sheik Abdul Khadir
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Introduction to Gait [edit | edit source]
The ability to walk independently is a prerequisite for most daily activities. The capacity to walk in a community setting requires the ability to walk at speeds that enable an individual to cross the street in the time allotted by pedestrian lights, to step on and off a moving walkway, in and out of automatic doors, walk around furniture, under and over objects and negotiate kerbs.A walking velocity of 1.1-1.5 m/s is considered to be fast enough to function as a pedestrian in different environmental and social contexts. It has been reported that only 7% of patients discharged from rehabilitation met the criteria for community walking which included the ability to walk 500 m continuously at a speed that would enable them to cross a road safely (Hill et al. 1997).
The major requirements for successful walking (Forssberg 1982) are:
- support of body mass by lower limbs
- propulsion of the body in the intended direction
- the production of a basic locomotor rhythm
- dynamic balance control of the moving body
- flexibility, i.e. the ability to adapt the movement to changing
environmental demands and goals.
