Relationship between Trunk Performance and the Stair Ascending and Descending in Post Stroke Subjects

Abstract

Purpose and Objective:- Trunk being the central keypoint of the body, good trunk stability is essential for reaching and grasping and proximal trunk control is a prerequisite for distal lower limb movement control in functional activities like walking and stair climbing. There are several clinical tools to measure trunk performance such as The sitting balance item of the Motor assessment scale, The trunk control test, leg and trunk scale of the Rivermead Motor Assessment Scale. The Trunk Impairment Scale (TIS) a new tool to measure motor impairment of trunk after stroke was developed in 2004 by G Verheyden et al. Studies were conducted to correlate the TIS with Tinette, TUG test, 10 min walk test. However studies were not conducted to show the relationship between the trunk impairment and stair climbing in stroke subject. Design:- Correlational study Settings:-HOSMAT Hospital, BangaloreSubjects:-A total of 32 stroke subjects with a mean (SD) age of 53.90 ± 13.07 yrs. 21 males and 11 females participated.Method:-All the 32 subjects were administered with TIS and then followed by stair ascend and descend test. Outcome measures:- TIS, Stair ascend and descend test.Results:-The median scores of static, dynamic sitting balance and coordination ( 5, 6, 1) respectively. Mean score of stair ascend - 18.87±11.05 and for stair descend - 20.60±12.43.There was a moderate negative correlation between TIS and stair ascend with rs= -0.54 (P=0.001), moderate negative correlation between TIS and stair descend with rs=-0.63(P=0.001) and also moderate negative correlation between TIS and stair ascend + descend rs= 0.58(P=0.001).Conclusion:-The Trunk impairment scale shows moderate correlation with the stair ascend and descend test, which suggests that a person scoring less on the Trunk Impairment Scale (TIS ) takes more time to ascend and descend the stairs.