Balance and physical impairments after stroke

Objective: To investigate the relationship among laboratory and clinical balance measures and physical impairments. Design: A descriptive correlational study. Setting: Research laboratory. Participants: Thirty subjects with stroke, recruited through convenience sampling. Main Outcome Measures: Postural sway was calculated in terms of center of pressure (COP) parameters including spectral characteristics. Clinical balance was measured using the Balance Scale. The assessed physical impairments included stages of lower limb motor recovery, ankle proprioception, and passive dorsiflexion range of the involved limb. Results: The Balance Scale was correlated with COP speed (r = -.57), COP root mean square speed (r = -.50), and COP mean frequency (r = -.50) in the anterior-posterior direction only. Moderate to high correlations were found among most of the COP parameters except spectral characteristics. Significant differences in postural sway were found among different stance in eyes-open (p = .00 to .02) and eyes-closed conditions (p = .00 to .04). Subjects with impaired ankle proprioception had significantly increased postural sway and decreased Balance Scale scores when compared with the subjects with intact ankle proprioception. Conclusions: Some of the clinical and laboratory balance assessments were related, indicating that some components of the tests are similar, but some measured different aspects of balance. Postural sway was related to visual condition, stance position, and proprioception. (C) 1999 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.