Plantar Pressure Distribution in People with Stroke and Association with Functional Mobility

Background: people with stroke often suffer abnormal foot posture includingstructural and movement deficiencies in the intrinsic foot segments on theaffected side, which are associated with limitation in mobility. as part of aprogramme of research examining foot and ankle biomechanics after stroke, weinvestigated plantar pressure distribution under the affected foot of people withstroke and the relationship with functional mobility.methods: plantar pressure distribution was investigated while standing andwalking on the affected side of twenty stroke and fifteen healthy sex and agematchedparticipants, using a medilogic platform system at a frequency of 20hz. functional mobility in real life was measured using the walking handicapscale.results: while standing, people with stroke bore greater pressure on theaffected side through the lateral heel and lesser toes (p<0.01) and less at themedial (mp1) and central forefoot (mp23) areas (p<0.05) than healthy controls.during walking, more pressure was taken through the heel area, especially themedial heel and less through the medial and central forefoot of the affected footof people with stroke compared to healthy controls.the logistic regression model revealed that stroke participants who took greaterpressure on the medial heel while walking (odds ratio=1.11, p<0.05) had morelimited functional mobility (i.e. were more likely to be household walkers)than those who did not. while standing, none of the standing plantar pressurevariables significantly contributed to the model.conclusion: the plantar pressure distribution differs significantly between theaffected foot of people with stroke and healthy controls. abnormal plantarpressure distribution while walking, but not while standing, is a significantcontributor to limited functional mobility post stroke.