| Summary: | Objective: To assess the effects of flexible anterior ankle-foot orthosis (AFOs) on gait patterns of stroke patients.
Methods: The flexible anterior AFOs were custom-made from 3Mâ„¢ Scotchcast softcast tape. The subjects were assigned to walk with a flexible anterior AFO on the paper walkway. All gait parameters including velocity, base of support, cadence, step length and gait symmetry were immediately evaluated and compared with and without applying the AFOs. The sequences of testing were randomly assigned.
Results: Twenty-one subjects with post-stroke hemiplegia with gait impairment due to foot drop were included. Comparing between walking with and without the AFOs, there was no significant difference of gait parameters either in velocity, base of support, cadence, and step length and gait symmetry. However, functional ambulation category (FAC) was increased 1 level in 43% of cases after wearing the AFO.
Conclusion: Applying the flexible anterior AFOs provided no immediate effect on gait parameters of the stroke patients walking with foot drop. Walking ability (FAC) may be potentially improved with this design in some cases.
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