Gait & Posture features a study that found minimal detectable change (MDC) values provide a useful reference to help interpret the magnitudes of changes in post-stroke gait variables.
Some 19 individuals with chronic post-stroke hemiparesis (12 males; age=47-75 years; 72.6±63.4 months since stroke) participated in two testing sessions separated by 20.7±26.8 days.
The results showed that test-retest reliability was excellent for all gait variables tested (intraclass correlation coefficients=0.799-0.986). MDCs were reported for hip, knee, and ankle joint angles (range 3.8° for trailing limb angles to 11.5° for hip extension), peak anterior ground reaction force (GRF) (2.85% body weight), mean vertical GRF (4.65% body weight), all temporal variables (range 3.2-4.2% gait cycle), and paretic step length (6.7cm).
Trisha M. Kesar, PT, PhD, led the study, which was coauthored by Stuart A. Binder-Macleod, PT, PhD, FAPTA, Gregory E. Hicks, PT, PhD, and Darcy S. Riesman, PT.
The study was published on December 21, 2010 ahead of print.
[Source: APTA’s PT in Motion]
