Three dimensional kinematic analyses of movement control of individual fingers post-stroke

• Published in: Gait & posture 2015, Vol.42 (Supplement 1), p.S33-S33
• Main Authors: Johansson, A.-M, Grip, H, Strong, A, Selling, J, Rönnqvist, L, Boraxbekk, C.-J, Häger, C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Orthopedics; Physiotherapy; Rehabilitation Medicine; rehabiliteringsmedicin; sjukgymnastik
• ISSN: 0966-6362; 1879-2219; 1879-2219
• DOI: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2015.06.066

Research question: Objectives of the present study are: (1) to quantify finger movements in a 3D context and (2) by this method investigate the ability to perform individualized finger movements, with and without vision of the hands, in persons with a chronic stroke diagnosis compared to able-bodied controls. Introduction: Increased knowledge of how fine movement control is affected by stroke is important for the understanding of recovery of function. This is crucial for the development of reliable and valid assessment methods for evaluation of rehabilitation of the upper limbs. This study is part of the MOST project (MOST-MOvement control in STroke) where both clinical tests and 3D movement assessments are performed. Materials and methods: At present, 18 persons post-stroke (M age = 67 years; 6 women) and 26 able-bodied controls (M age = 62 years, 11 women) have participated. The ability to perform uni-manual individualized finger movements and the effect of vison of the hands were evaluated. Participants were instructed to move a specific finger in cyclic extension–flexion movements at the metacarpophalangeal joint, keeping the rest of the finger straight and the other fingers still, at a self-paced speed during 10 s (2 test series for each hand; 8 test series in total). The task was performed seated. The wrists were extended about 10° and fixated to a wooden frame with forearm support. Reflective markers were affixed to each fingertip and movements were recorded by optoelectronic cameras. Based on the positional change of the fingers during task performance, two indices ranging from 0-1 were calculated: (1) Individuation index (II) where the independence of each finger movement is shown and where 1 indicate complete independence, (2) stationary index (SI) where 1 indicate that the finger remains still when the other fingers move [1]. Results: Our results show that it is possible to quantify individual finger movements by use of 3D movement analysis addressing the quality of movement performance in stroke survivors: all but 3 persons post-stroke were able to perform the task. Preliminary analyses (based on a subsample constituted of 8 post-stroke and 8 controls) verify that the test discriminated between groups where participants post-stroke had lower values on II and SI as compared to the control persons, the lowest values were observed for the middle and ring fingers. Ongoing analyses will show if vision influences the outcomes. Discussion: A set-up ha