Abstract
Most of patients with hemiplegia find it difficult to rise from the supine position smoothly due to various reasons. We considered that instability in a single elbow support position was one factor of it. The purpose of this study was to clarify if difficulty in performing the rise up maneuver could be accounted for by characteristics of the center of pressure (COP) in a single elbow support position in hemiplegic patients. Sixteen patients with hemiplegia, and fifteen normal subjects matched for age and sex, participated in the study. All subjects were measured for the time of the rise up maneuver, COP in the static position of a single elbow support (static trial), and COP in movement of the upper body to the anterior and posterior (dynamic trial). Patients with hemiplegia were compared with normal subjects. No difference was shown in COP in the static trial between the two groups. However, the time of the rise up maneuver was longer and COP (excluding the length of trajectory) in the dynamic trial was significantly poorer in the patients group than the normal group. The results indicate that acquisition of dynamic stability in a single elbow support position is an important factor in the ability to rise up smoothly.
