Researchers Compare Walking Ability of Post-Stroke Patients and Non-Disabled Adults

Something  we should have had for years, evidence-based practice.
http://www.ptproductsonline.com/news/2012-09-06_01.asp
Individuals with stroke have reduced walking activity, although it is unknown whether this deficit is due to a reduction in all aspects of walking activity or only in specific areas. Researchers from Delaware and Maine performed a study to examine the walking activity in post-stroke individuals compared with older adults without disability. The results were published in the September 2012 issue of Physical Therapy. 
Margaret A. Roos, PT, DPT, PhD, NCS, from the department of physical therapy at the University of Delaware, Newark, Del, led the cross-sectional study of 54 post-stroke participants and 18 older adults reported as having no disability. All participants wore a step activity monitor for 3 days, which calculated steps per day (SPD), bouts per day (BPD), steps per bout (SPB), total time walking per day (TTW), percentage of time walking per day (PTW), and frequency of short, medium, and long walking bouts.
The researchers classified 29 participants as household and limited community ambulators (HHA-LCA group) and 22 participants as unlimited community ambulators (UCA group). According to the results, the SPD, TTW, PTW, and BPD measurements were the greatest in the older, non-disabled adults and the lowest in the HHA-LCA group. In addition, walking in the short, medium, and long categories was found to be lowest in the HHA-LCA group, greater in the UCA group, and greatest in the non-disabled group.
The specific descriptors of walking activity presented can provide insight into walking deficits post-stroke that cannot be determined by looking at steps per day alone. The researchers stress the need to analyze the structure of walking activity, concluding that the deficits found during this study could be addressed through appropriate exercise prescription.