Effect of pausing during sitting-to-walking; version 1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Effect of Pause Phase Duration on Dynamic Stability During Sit-to-Stand-and-Walk: A Comparison Between Stroke and Healthy Individuals
IRAS ID
200113
Contact name
David Green
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 4 months, 29 days
Research summary
To live independently, adults need to be able to move freely and to be able to start and stop movements. Transitional Movements (TMs) for example standing up from sitting, walking and then stopping to turn on the kettle are crucial for movement freedom. The safe performance of TMs requires adequate movement control, which is often affected after stroke.
Functional rehabilitation following stroke usually includes relearning how to organise movements. Physiotherapists often practice TMs as part of an individual’s therapy. While we know that repetition of movements is essential for effective rehabilitation, we do not know which particular practice movements to prioritise for patients after stroke. We suggest that TMs may be a better functional option than simple movements. At present we do not know how TMs are performed differently after stroke.
We therefore propose a two-phase study to assess several aspects of TMs from sitting, rising, walking and then stopping performed with and without a pause. We aim to see if there are differences between groups of healthy and stroke individuals and develop a method of determining the differences. The ability to quantify differences would provide an outcome measure to assess the impact of physiotherapeutic interventions.
The main objective of phase 1 is to determine time differences between healthy and stroke individuals naturally performing a TM from sitting to walking; and in phase 2 to establish if additional modulatory variables such as pauses, deceleration and stopping effect whether established quantifiable measures can differentiate healthy individuals from stroke individuals. If so, direct clinical application could include modulation of the transition-phase duration individuals practice in rehabilitation, and provide legitimate evaluative variables to measure alternative rehabilitative treatments to optimise recovery rates of sitting to walking and stopping. Achieving the correct foundations of gait initiation would have positive effects on functional rehabilitation.
REC name
HSC REC A
REC reference
16/NI/0154
Date of REC Opinion
29 Jul 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion