Immediate effect of a wearable foot drop stimulator to prevent foot drop on the gait ability of patients with hemiplegia after stroke

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of a foot drop stimulator (FDS) and ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) on the gait ability of patients with hemiplegia after stroke. This study recruited 10 patients with hemiplegia after stroke. All patients performed gait under two conditions (AFO and FDS gait). Gait parameters were measured with the GAITRite (R) system to analyze the spatial and temporal parameters of the patients' gaits. No significant differences in cadence, velocity, swing time, stance time, or step length of the affected or less-affected limbs were found between the two conditions (all, p > .05). These findings demonstrate that AFO and FDS have a similar effect on the gait ability of patients with hemiplegia after stroke.