THE EFFECTS OF COMMON PERONEAL STIMULATION ON THE EFFORT AND SPEED OFWALKING - A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL WITH CHRONIC HEMIPLEGIC PATIENTS

Objective: To measure the effect of the Odstock Dropped Foot Stimulato r (ODFS), a common peroneal stimulator, on the effort and speed of wal king. Design: A randomized controlled trial. Subjects: Hemiplegic pati ents who had suffered a single stroke at least six months prior to the start of the trial whose walking was impaired by a drop-foot. Interve ntions: The treatment, functional electrical stimulation (FES) group, used the stimulator and received a course of physiotherapy; the contro l group received physiotherapy alone, Main outcome measures: Changes i n walking speed measured over 10 m and the effort of walking measured by physiological cost index (PCI). Results: Thirty-two subjects comple ted the trial, 16 in the FES group and 16 in the control group. Mean i ncrease in walking speed between the beginning and end of the trial wa s 20.5% in the FES group (when the stimulator was used), and 5.2% in t he control group. improvement was also measured in PCI with a reductio n of 24.9% in the FES group (when the stimulator was used) and 1% in t he control group. No improvement in these parameters was measured in t he FES group when the stimulator was not used. Conclusion: Walking was statistically significantly improved when the ODFS was worn but no 'c arry-over' was measured. Physiotherapy alone, in this group of subject s with established stroke, did not improve walking.