This study aimed to investigate intra-limb coordination in non-disabled individuals walking with and without a constrained knee and in individuals with stroke. We hypothesized that a constrained knee would modify the intra-limb coordination of non-disabled individuals and that non-disabled individuals walking with a constrained knee would present coordination patterns similar to those presented by individuals with stroke. Twelve individuals with chronic stroke (age: 54.1 ± 9.9 years) and 12 age- and sex-matched individuals (age: 54.8 ± 9.2 years) with no known gait impairment (non-disabled individuals) participated in this study. Non-disabled individuals walked with and without an orthosis on one of their knees, limiting flexion to 40°, which was the average maximum knee flexion presented by the participants with stroke. Lower limb coordination was assessed on the basis of vector coding for the thigh-shank and shank-foot couplings during stance and swing periods of gait. Constrained knee flexion in non-disabled individuals mainly affected the thigh-shank coupling but not the shank-foot coupling of the constrained limb. There was reduced anti-phase coordination during the stance and swing periods and a marked increase in in-phase coordination during the swing period. Non-disabled individuals presented most changes toward the coordination pattern presented by individuals with stroke, except for the thigh-phase mode during the swing period, which was lower than that in individuals with stroke. Reduced knee flexion movement caused similar alterations in the intra-limb coordination pattern in non-disabled individuals compared to those observed in individuals with stroke. Therefore, diminished knee flexion movement, which is presented by individuals with stroke, can be considered a key disturbance that leads to impairment in lower extremity intra-limb coordination.

本研究旨在调查行走时膝关节受限和未受限的非残疾人以及中风患者的肢体协调性。我们假设膝关节受限会改变非残疾人的肢体协调，而非残疾人走路时膝关节受限会表现出与中风患者相似的协调模式。12 名慢性卒中患者（年龄：54.1 ± 9.9 岁）和 12 名年龄和性别匹配且没有已知步态障碍的个体（非残疾个体）（年龄：54.8 ± 9.2 岁）参与了这项研究。非残障人士行走时，其中一个膝盖上有和没有矫形器，屈曲度限制在 40°，这是中风参与者呈现的平均最大膝关节屈曲度。在步态的站立和摆动期间，根据大腿-小腿和小腿-脚耦合的矢量编码评估下肢协调。非残疾个体的膝关节屈曲受限主要影响大腿-小腿耦合，而不影响受限肢体的小腿-足耦合。站立和摆动期间的反相协调减少，摆动期间的同相协调显着增加。非残疾个体对中风个体的协调模式表现出最大的变化，但摆动期的大腿阶段模式低于中风个体。与在中风个体中观察到的那些相比，膝关节屈曲运动的减少导致非残疾个体的肢体内协调模式发生了类似的改变。因此，中风患者所表现出的膝关节屈曲运动减弱，可被认为是导致下肢肢体内协调受损的关键障碍。