The Development of Ankle Control Elastic Band for Improvement in Walking of Hemiplegic Patients.

, Lee, Kyoung Moo; , Byun, Jae Hyun

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Academy of Rehabilitation Medicine 2005;29(3):303-308.

Lee, Kyoung Moo , Byun, Jae Hyun

Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Chungbuk National University School of Medicine, Korea. byunjhmd@hanmail.net

편마비환자의 보행 개선을 위한 족관절 조절 탄력밴드의 개발

이경무, 변재현

충북대학교 의과대학 재활의학교실

Abstract

Objective
The aims of this study were to verify that the newly developed ankle control elastic band (ACE band) can improve the gait pattern of hemiplegic patients by assessment of objective and subjective data.
Method
ACE band consisted of medial ring, lateral ring, and elastic band was devised and 11 ambulatory stroke patients were evaluated with gait measurements, functional ambulation categories (FAC), functional reach test (FRT), and questionnaires for the effect of ACE band. Gait measurements were of 10 m walking time, cadence, stride length, stride period, stance phase, single support time, and single support time asymmetry ratio.
Results
Gait measurements with the ACE band showed significant improvement (p＜0.05 or p＜0.01). FAC and FRT with the ACE band were significantly increased (p＜0.01), and the questionnaires suggested that wearing the ACE band helped improve toe dragging, swinging leg forward, taking weight through foot, confidence of gait, safety of gait, gait distance and gait velocity.
Conclusion
ACE band was invented for improvement of hemiplegic gait, and its evaluation of gait measurements, FAC, FRT, and questionnaire showed that the ACE band was effective for hemiplegic gait after stroke. (J Korean Acad Rehab Med 2005; 29: 303-308)

Key Words: Stroke, Hemiplegic gait, Ankle control elastic band