Foot Pressure and Trunk Muscle Activity during Reaching Tasks Performed by Seated Hemiplegia Patients

Abstract

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to examine foot pressure and trunk muscle activity during reaching tasks performed by patients with hemiplegia, and compare them with healthy subjects. [Subjects] Ten left-side hemiplegia patients and ten healthy subjects were recruited for this study. [Methods] The foot pressure and trunk muscle activity were measured while performing four reaching tasks in the diagonal and horizontal directions in a sitting position. [Results] In patients with hemiplegia, the foot pressure on the non-paretic side increased when performing the tasks on the paretic side, while the muscle activities of the erector spinae on the paretic side were lower than those of healthy subjects. [Conclusion] We found that the proper selection of the starting point for a task is more important than the direction of the task for the rehabilitation of patients with hemiplegia. We consider that performing the task on the non-paretic side to encourage symmetric weight distribution on the feet and trunk stability may be effective.