Energy cost of obstacle crossing in stroke patients

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of clearing and skirting obstacles during the gait on the energetic cost of walking (ECW) of patients with chronic hemiplegia. The hypothesis was that hemiplegia would have a greatest increase in the ECW than in the healthy group.

Fifteen healthy subjects and 17 patients with chronic hemiplegia completed two 6-min walking sessions: one with obstacles and the other without obstacles. During both sessions, the patients were equipped with a portable gas analyzer to measure oxygen uptake (V˙o2). Gait velocity and ECW were calculated.

In both groups, gait velocity was lower in the with-obstacles condition and the ECW was significantly higher. V˙o2 was greater in the with-obstacles condition for the healthy group, whereas it remained unchanged for the group with hemiplegia.

Results demonstrated that the addition of obstacles during gait increased the ECW and decreased mean walking speed in both the healthy subjects and the patients with hemiplegia. More interestingly, the authors found differences in adaptation strategies between the healthy subjects and the patients with hemiplegia. During the with-obstacles condition, the oxygen uptakes of the healthy subjects increased and mean walking speed decreased, whereas, in the subjects with hemiplegia, only mean walking speed decreased.