Correlation of walking gait characteristics and fear of falling in patients with acute ischemic stroke and hemiplegia

Objective To explore the correlation between walking gait characteristics and fall fear in hemiplegic patients with acute ischemic stroke. Methods 189 patients with hemiplegia after acute ischemic stroke treated in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from March 2016 to March 2018 were selected as the research subjects. The patients were investigated by General Data Questionnaire, Single Item Fall Fear Assessment and Modified Fall Efficacy Scale (MFES) . The gait parameters of patients were measured by gait analyzer to detect and analyze the correlation between gait characteristics and fall fear in hemiplegic patients with acute ischemic stroke. Results Among 189 patients with hemiplegia after acute ischemic stroke, 123 (65.08%) were fearful of falling and 66 (34.92%) were not fearful of falling. The average score of items in Single Item Fall Fear Assessment in the patients with fear of falling were (7.64±1.63) and those without fear of falling were (9.01±1.33) , the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P<0.05) . The step speed, step frequency, step length and standing phase in the fear of falling group were lower than those in the non-fear of falling group, and the step time and swing phase were higher than those in the non-fear of falling group with statistical difference (P<0.05) . Pearson correlation analysis showed that the step speed, step frequency, step length and standing phase were positively correlated with the MFES score (P<0.05) , and the step time and swing phase were negatively correlated with the MFES score (P<0.05) . Conclusions Most of the hemiplegic patients with acute stroke have the fear of falling, and those who are afraid of falling are more likely to have abnormal gait, which indicates that those who are afraid of falling are more likely to fall, and need the attention of family members and medical staff. Key words: Stroke; Acute disease; Ischemic; Hemiplegia; Gait; Fear of falling; Correlation