Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 May 1:2012:328018.
doi: 10.5402/2012/328018.

Compelled Body Weight Shift Technique to Facilitate Rehabilitation of Individuals with Acute Stroke

Sambit Mohapatra  1 , Aileen C Eviota  2 , Keir L Ringquist  2 , Sri Ranjini Muthukrishnan  3 , Alexander S Aruin  1
Affiliations

Compelled Body Weight Shift Technique to Facilitate Rehabilitation of Individuals with Acute Stroke

Sambit Mohapatra et al. ISRN Rehabil. .

Abstract

Background: The study evaluates the effectiveness of Compelled Body Weight Shift (CBWS) approach in the rehabilitation of individuals with stroke. CBWS involves a forced shift of body weight towards a person's affected side by means of a shoe insert that establishes a lift of the nonaffected lower extremity.

Methods: Eleven patients with acute stroke were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received a two-week conventional physical therapy combined with CBWS and the control group received only a two-week conventional therapy. Weight bearing, Gait velocity, Berg's Balance, and Fugl-Meyer's Scores were recorded before and after the intervention.

Results: Weight bearing on the affected side increased in the experimental group and decreased in the control group. The increase in gait velocity with treatment was significant in both the groups (P < 0.05). However, experimental group (P = 0.01) demonstrated larger improvements in gait velocity compared to the control group (P = 0.002). Berg Balance and Fugl-Meyer scores increased for both the groups.

Conclusion: The implementation of a two-week intervention with CBWS resulted in the improvement in weight bearing and gait velocity of individuals with acute stroke. The present preliminary study suggests that CBWS technique could be implemented as an adjunct to conventional rehabilitation program for individuals with acute stroke.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic representation of a stroke-related asymmetry of stance and weight-bearing (left) and how a shoe insert restores weight-bearing symmetry by lifting the nonaffected lower extremity (right).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Changes in the percentage of weight bearing on the affected side (% of the total body weight). Mean ± SE are shown.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Changes in gait velocity (in m/s) with treatment. Mean ± SE are shown. *shows statistical significance at P < 0.05.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Roger VL, Go AS, Lloyd-Jones DM, et al. Heart disease and stroke statistics-2011 update: a report from The American Heart Association. Circulation. 2011;123(4):e18–e19. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kelly-Hayes M, Robertson JT, Broderick JP, et al. The American Heart Association stroke outcome classification. Stroke. 1998;29(6):1274–1280. - PubMed
    1. Eng JJ, Chu KS. Reliability and comparison of weight-bearing ability during standing tasks for individuals with chronic stroke. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2002;83(8):1138–1144. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Rodriguez GM, Aruin AS. The effect of shoe wedges and lifts on symmetry of stance and weight bearing in hemiparetic individuals. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 2002;83(4):478–482. - PubMed
    1. Wall JC, Turnbull GI. Gait asymmetries in residual hemiplegia. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. 1986;67(8):550–553. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources