Journal
DISABILITY AND REHABILITATION
Volume 40, Issue 8, Pages 912-916Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/09638288.2017.1280092
Keywords
Chronic stroke; paretic arm; sustained force; wrist extension; bilateral contraction
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Purpose: Muscle weakness in the extensors poststroke is a common motor impairment. Unfortunately, research is unclear on whether bilateral movements increase extensor force production in the paretic arm. This study investigated sustained force production while stroke individuals maximally extended their wrist and fingers on their paretic arm. Specifically, we determined isometric force production in three conditions: (a) unilateral paretic arm, (b) unilateral nonparetic arm, and (c) bilateral (both arms executing the same movement simultaneously). Methods: Seventeen chronic stroke patients produced isometric sustained force by executing wrist and fingers extension in unilateral and bilateral contraction conditions. Mean force, force variability (coefficient of variation), and signal-to-noise ratio were calculated for each contraction condition. Results: Analysis of two-way (Arm x Type of Condition: 2 x 2; Paretic or Nonparetic Arm x Unilateral or Bilateral Conditions) within-subjects ANOVAs revealed that the bilateral condition increased sustained force in the paretic arm, but reduced sustained force in the nonparetic arm. Further, although the paretic arm exhibited more force variability and less signal-to-noise ratio than the nonparetic arm during a unilateral condition, there were no differences when participants simultaneously executed isometric contractions with both arms. Conclusions: Our unique findings indicate that bilateral contractions transiently increased extensor force in the paretic arm.
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