Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 22, 2026
Motor Dual-Tasks for Gait Analysis and Evaluation in Post-Stroke Patients
Published on: March 11, 2021
Dual-task mobility among individuals with chronic stroke: changes in cognitive-motor interference patterns and
Lei Yang1,2,3, Freddy M Lam3, Meizhen Huang3
1Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China.
Background:
Dual-task mobility performance is compromised after stroke.
Aim:
This study evaluated how the difficulty level of mobility and cognitive tasks influenced the cognitive-motor interference pattern among individuals with chronic stroke and whether it differed from age-matched control participants.
Design:
A cross-sectional study.
Setting:
University laboratory.
Population:
Individuals with chronic stroke and age-matched controls.
Methods:
Sixty-one individuals with chronic stroke (mean age: 62.9±7.8 years) and 32 controls (mean age: 61.0±7.3 years) performed three mobility tasks (forward walking, obstacle-crossing, backward walking) and two cognitive tasks (serial-3-subtractions, serial-7-subtractions) in single-task and dual-task conditions. time to complete the mobility tasks and correct response rates were recorded.
Results:
Serial subtractions significantly increased the walking time compared to single-task walking (P<0.001) without decreasing the correct response rate (P>0.05) in both groups, indicating cognitive-related motor interference. As the difficulty of the walking task was increased (i.e., obstacle crossing), the dual-task effect on the walking time was similar to that observed during forward walking, but the correct response rate significantly decreased (P<0.05), indicating that more attentional resources were allocated to the mobility task. When the walking task difficulty level increased further (i.e., backward walking), an exaggerated increase in the walking time (P<0.001) was observed in both groups, but the stroke group also had a decreased correct response rate (P<0.001), indicative of a mutual interference pattern. The control group, however, maintained the correct response rate (P>0.05) despite the slowed walking speed in this condition (P<0.001).
Conclusions:
The degree of dual-task interference and task prioritization strategies are highly specific to the combinations of the walking and cognitive tasks used and are affected by the presence of stroke.
Clinical Rehabilitation Impact:
The study results may provide the basis for establishing assessment tools and creating intervention programs that address dual-task mobility function post-stroke.
