Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Neurol.
Sec. Neurorehabilitation
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1407297

Ankle Joint Position Sense Acuity Differences Among Stroke Survivors at Three Walking Ability Levels: A Cross-Sectional Study

Provisionally accepted
Jinyao Xu Jinyao Xu 1Jeremy Witchalls Jeremy Witchalls 1*Elisabeth Preston Elisabeth Preston 2Li Pan Li Pan 3Gengyuan Zhang Gengyuan Zhang 3Gordon Waddington Gordon Waddington 4Roger David Adams Roger David Adams 4Jia Han Jia Han 5
  • 1 Research Institute for Sport and Exercise, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia
  • 2 Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia
  • 3 department of rehabilitation, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China
  • 4 Research institute of sport and exercise, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia
  • 5 College of Rehabilitation Sciences, Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Shanghai, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Despite the importance of lower limb sensation in walking highlighted in systematic reviews, there is limited research investigating the effect of proprioceptive deficits after stroke and any relationship with walking ability.Objectives: With stroke survivors of different walking ability, this study aimed to 1) explore side (affected/unaffected) and movement direction (inversion/plantar flexion) effects in ankle joint position sense (JPS) acuity, and 2) compare ankle JPS acuity between groups of stroke survivors with different walking ability.Methods: Seventy subacute stroke survivors were recruited and divided into three groups based on walking ability, as determined by their gait speed on the 10-Meter Walking Test: household (<0.4m/s), limited community (0.4-0.8 m/s) and community (>0.8m/s). Ankle JPS acuity was measured by the active movement extent discrimination apparatus (AMEDA).Results: A significant difference was found between sides, with the AMEDA scores for the unaffected side significantly higher than for the affected side (F1.67 = 22.508, P<0.001). The mean AMEDA scores for plantar flexion were significantly higher than for inversion (F1.67 = 21.366, P<0.001). There was a significant linear increase in ankle JPS acuity with increasing walking ability among stroke survivors (F1.67 = 17.802, P<0.001). Conclusions: After stroke, ankle JPS acuity on the affected side was lower than the unaffected side. Stroke survivors had higher ankle JPS acuity in plantar-flexion movements, compared with inversion movements. Overall, stroke survivors with higher ankle JPS acuity tended to have higher walking ability, highlighting the importance of ankle JPS acuity in walking ability after stroke. These findings provide new insights into proprioceptive deficits after stroke and their relevance in neurorehabilitation.

    Keywords: lower limb, Ankle, Proprioception, Walking ability, Unilateral stroke

    Received: 26 Mar 2024; Accepted: 13 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Xu, Witchalls, Preston, Pan, Zhang, Waddington, Adams and Han. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jeremy Witchalls, Research Institute for Sport and Exercise, University of Canberra, Canberra, 2617, Australia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.