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Published on: January 15, 2016
One-legged bicycling as an assessment tool for patients with stroke
1The Arvid Carlsson Institute, The Sahlgrenska Academy, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden. ks.sunnerhagen@neuro.gu.se
Objective:
To assess whether one-legged bicycling correlates with muscle strength and thereby could work as an outcome measure for persons with stroke.
Methods:
The study comprised 29 men (age 35-65) with a first occurrence of stroke 6-35 months earlier. Each leg was evaluated separately. A ramp protocol was used (10 W/min), with continuous recording of the ventilatory uptake (Vo(2)) and heart rate. An isokinetic dynamometer was used to assess strength and endurance. Enzyme assays were performed on muscle biopsy samples.
Results:
The peak isometric strength and isokinetic strength of the paretic leg correlated with the max. W on the bicycle. The oxidative enzyme citrate synthase correlated with the workload for both legs on the bicycle and lactate dehydrogenase correlated with peak isometric strength in both legs.
Conclusions:
The one-legged bicycle exercise test can be used to assess endurance in persons with a previous stroke as it correlates with dynamometer testing and muscle biopsies.
