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Objectives: To explore events and describe phases for temporal coordination of the sit-to-walk (STW) task, within a semistandardized set up, in subjects with stroke and matched controls. In addition, to assess variability of STW phase duration and to compare the relative duration of STW phases between the 2 groups.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: Research laboratory.

Participants: A convenience sample of persons with hemiparesis (n=10; age 50–67y), more than 6 months after stroke and 10 controls matched for sex, age, height, and body mass index.

Interventions: Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures: Relative duration of STW phases, SE of measurement in percentage of the mean, and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs).

Results: Four STW phases were defined: rise preparation, transition, primary gait initiation, and secondary gait initiation. The subjects with stroke needed 54% more time to complete the STW task than the controls did. ICCs ranged from .38 to .66 and .22 to .57 in the stroke and control groups, respectively. SEs of measurement in percentage of the mean values were high, particularly in the transition phase: 54.1% (stroke) and 50.4% (controls). The generalized linear model demonstrated that the relative duration of the transition phase was significantly longer in the stroke group.

Conclusions: The present results extend existing knowledge by presenting 4 new phases of temporal coordination of STW, within a semistandardized set-up, in persons with stroke and in controls. The high degree of variability regarding relative STW phase duration was probably a result of both the semistandardized set up and biological variability. The significant difference in the transition phase across the 2 groups requires further study.

Objectives: To describe and to compare coordination of centre of mass (COM) horizontal and vertical momenta, and fluidity during the sit-to-walk (STW) transfer in subjects with stroke and in matched controls.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: Research laboratory.

Participants: Ten subjects with stroke in the post-acute phase (> 6 months) and ten control subjects, matched for sex, age, height and weight, were recruited through a convenience sample.

Interventions: Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures: Magnitudes and timing of COM peak horizontal and peak vertical momenta, scores on the Fluidity Scale (FS) and values of the Fluidity Index (FI).

Results: The stroke subjects generated significantly less COM peak horizontal and peak vertical momenta. Latencies from STW-onset and seat-off to the peaks differed significantly between the two groups. The subjects with stroke displayed significantly lower scores on the FS as well as lower percentages of the FI.

Conclusions: While rising to walk, scaling and timing parameters of COM horizontal and vertical momenta differed significantly between subjects with stroke and matched controls. This atypical motor strategy needs to be further investigated before it is possible to make clinical recommendations.

Objectives: To explore the correlation between clinical assessmentand force plate measurement of postural control after stroke when selected balance tasks are performed under similar spatial and temporal conditions, and to examine the inter-rater agreement of assessment of weight distribution during quiet stance in subjects with stroke.

Design: A descriptive and correlational study.

Methods: Clinical assessment of postural control using Berg Balance Scale, video recording for rating of weight distribution, and force plate measurement with the Vifor-system, were performed in 20 subjects with stroke.

Results: Mean velocity of displacement of the centre of pressure in the anterior-posterior direction correlated moderately with scores from the Berg Balance Scale items “maintaining a position” in the whole sample (rs = –0.50, p <0.05) as well as in a subgroup of subjects with stroke with submaximal Berg Balance Scale scores (rs = –0.62, p < 0.05). Moderate correlation was found between ratings of each of 3 physiotherapistsand centre of pressure’s mean position in the frontal plane on the force plate, while the inter-rater agreement was poor.

Conclusion: Clinical assessment of postural control and weight distribution showed moderate correlation with force plate measurement when the assessments were performed under similar conditions. The data suggest that the reliability of observational postural analysis needs to be improved.