Benefits of implanted peroneal functional electrical stimulation for continual gait adaptations in people with 'drop foot' due to chronic stroke.

BACKGROUND

Benefits of peroneal functional electrical stimulation in people with post-stroke drop foot may particularly emerge in environments that require continual gait adaptation. Such adaption is known to increase the attentional demands of gait.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Is performance of a target stepping task more accurate and less attention demanding with electrical stimulation ON compared to OFF in people with post-stroke drop foot?

METHODS

Thirteen people with an implanted electrical stimulation system participated in this observational study. Participants performed a walking task with irregularly spaced targets on a self-paced treadmill, both as a single task and combined with an auditory Stroop task. Participants performed each task with electrical stimulation ON and OFF. In the OFF condition participants were allowed to use their own ankle-foot orthosis. The effects of Device (ON, OFF) and interaction of Device*Task (single, dual) on stepping performance in mediolateral and anteroposterior direction were tested based on the total error of foot placement relative to the targets, using repeated measurements ANOVA. Differences between electrical stimulation ON and OFF on auditory Stroop task accuracy were assessed using a non-parametric Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Non-parametric correlations were calculated to associate changes in stepping performance with paretic leg motor function (Fugl-Meyer Assessment - leg score).

RESULTS

Data of 12 participants were used for analysis. Mediolateral total error was smaller with peroneal functional electrical stimulation ON compared to OFF (Δ = 1.0 cm, p = 0.011). In the anteroposterior direction, no significant effects of Device were found. There were no significant interaction effects of Device*Task in either direction. Changes in total error (ON vs OFF) were not significantly associated with leg motor function. Stroop task accuracy was not statistically different between ON and OFF.

SIGNIFICANCE

Implanted electrical stimulation may have benefits with regard to mediolateral accuracy of a continual target stepping task, although the effect size is relatively small. This benefit seems to be independent of the performance of a concurrent attention-demanding task and may reflect better gait stability in the mediolateral direction, which is known to be a problem in people with stroke.