Abstract
This study examined the effect of attentional focus on a supra-postural task during hemiplegic gait. Fourteen participants (age range: 47 – 72 years; 2 females, 12 males; 10 left side hemiplegic, 2 right side hemiplegic, 2 undefined), who were at least 6 months post-stroke, were recruited from the Windsor Essex Community Health Centre. The participants were asked to ambulate at their preferred speed down on a GAITRite walkway under three experimental conditions: 1) baseline 2) walking while transporting a cup and naming as many fruits and vegetables as possible, and 3) walking while transporting a cup and focusing either on “keeping the hand steady” (internal focus) or “keeping the cup steady”. During supra-postural trials, the cup was held in a participant’s non-involved hand and participants were shown the inclinometer attached to the cup and informed it would record movement. Temporal (normalized velocity, double-support loading time) and spatial (step length differential) parameters were used to examine changes in gait under each experimental condition. Inclinometer data were analyzed to determine supra-postural task performance. Analysis of results revealed that attentional focus does not improve temporal performance in hemiplegic patients where spasticity and balance issues are persistent. Contrary to previous studies which demonstrated an external focus advantage for motor performance, the analysis revealed that internal focus instructions lead to an improvement in the spatial parameters of gait. The short term adaptations in spatial parameters indicate a possible avenue of intervention in the early stages of rehabilitation in order to achieve temporal symmetry.Acknowledgments: Windsor Essex Community Heath Centre