Dual-task-related gait changes in individuals with stroke

Many daily activities require people to complete a motor task while walking. The purpose of this study was to analyze subjects’ ability to perform motor tasks while walking. Subjects were classified into three different groups. The first group included 15 full community ambulators post-stroke. The second group included 15 least limited community ambulators post-stroke. The final group included 15 age-matched healthy subjects. Gait performance was measured under three different conditions: (1) preferred walking (single task); (2) walking buttoning up (buttoning task); (3) walking while carrying a tray with glasses (tray-carrying task). Gait velocity, cadence, stride time, stride length, temporal and spatial symmetry indices were examined with the GAITRite system. Our results showed that there were no significant differences between full community ambulators and control subjects for all gait variables. However, there were significant differences in dual-task-related gait decrement between the full community ambulators and control subjects. There were also significant differences in dual-task-related gait decrement between least limited community ambulators and control subjects. The findings of this study suggest that subjects with stroke including the full community ambulators have difficulty performing two motor tasks concurrently.