Balance Control During Walking and Obstacle Crossing

Investigators: Dr Cathy Said, Prof Mary Galea

Stroke affects approximately 40 000 Australians per year and accounts for 25% of all chronic disability.   While many people recover the ability to walk following stroke, there is a high rate of falls.   Falls may result in injury or loss of confidence and can negatively impact on a person's ability to function independently at home and in the community, participate in social activities and quality of life.   People with stroke also often have difficulty performing more difficult walking activities such as steps and negotiating obstacles, which may place them at risk of falls.   Preliminary work has identified that people with stroke demonstrate specific abnormalities in balance while walking and stepping over an obstacle.

The purpose of this study is to further explore how balance is controlled during walking in people with stroke and in healthy older adults using the three dimensional motion analysis (VICON) system in the Rehabilitation Sciences Research Centre at Austin Health.   It is hypothesised that people with stroke will demonstrate problems with their balance control, but they will also use some compensatory strategies to minimize threats to their stability.   The results of this study will assist in the identification of people who have poor balance during walking tasks and may be at greater risk of falls.   This will enable this group to be specifically targeted for fall prevention strategies.   It will also allow treatments to be developed that remediate unsafe balance strategies while retaining safe movement patterns, which may led to better balance during walking tasks following stroke.   This will assist in the prevention of falls and the subsequent secondary consequences of falls following stroke.  

The figure shows a stroke patient stepping over an obstacle in the Movement Laboratory. Markers placed on specific landmarks will identify the limb segment for calculation of joint angles. The obstacle has been placed over force plates embedded in the floor, which will measure the ground reaction forces generated during the landing once the obstacle has been negotiated.

Back to Gait & Mobility Index