A COMPARISON OF THE RANGE OF WALKING SPEEDS BETWEEN NORMAL AND HEMIPLEGIC SUBJECTS

It is known that people who have suffered stroke walk slower than norm al, However, their ability to deviate from a preferred speed of walkin g has not been reported, This study investigated the range of walking speeds of 20 hemiplegic subjects and compared the results with those o f 20 normal age- and gender-matched controls, All subjects traversed a computerized grid walkway which measured selected temporal and spatia l gait parameters, Subjects walked at five self-selected speeds: ''nor mal''; ''slower than normal''; ''slowest''; ''faster than normal''; an d ''fastest'', Comparisons were made between velocity, range of veloci ty, stride time and stride length, The hemiplegic group walked signifi cantly slower at all speeds, were less capable of adapting the speed o f their gait, possessed a markedly reduced range of walking speed, and walked more cautiously than the controls, These deficiencies are like ly to Limit the stroke person's ability to respond to environmental de mands.