The difference of bilateral limbs involvement during trunk bending and reaching in stroke patients

The purposes of this study were to investigate the effects of target locations on the demand of postural stability and to compare the involvement extent of bilateral lower limbs. The postural stability was measured by individual feet center of pressure (CoP). The proximal and distal end of the CoP line and the maximum CoP displacement in anterior-posterior direction were determined by custom-written Matlab programs and were expressed as percentage of foot length. Side of foot and target location interaction effects were significant only on CoP maximal anterior-posterior displacement (p = .008). The target location didn't affect the proximal end of the CoP line (p = .265) either did it affect the difference between feet as measured by the same parameter. The target location affected the distal end of the CoP line (p < .001) and the CoP maximal anterior-posterior displacement (p < .001 ) significantly, but only the later parameter showed the difference between feet when the targets were far/in the middle (p < .001) and on the paretic side (p = .008). The pedeography also show the target effects on CoP and different extent of bilateral limbs involvement. Change of target location can change the extent of the involvement of bilateral limbs and the parameters in this study were effective to show the effects. The relationship between CoP measures and neuromuscular control of the lower limb needs further investigations.