The Effect of Ankle Foot Orthosis Use on the Running Speed in Post Stroke Patients: A Meta Analysis

Abstract

Background: Stroke is a disease that occurs because blood flow to certain locations in the brain is disrupted. One of the main problems that occur in stroke sufferers is the disruption in the ability to walk, which will cause a decrease in the walking speed of post-stroke patients. One of the treatments used to increase the walking speed of post-stroke patients is to provide an ankle foot orthosis. The purpose of this study was to estimate the magnitude of the effect of using ankle foot orthosis on increasing walking speed of post-stroke patients by conducting a meta-analysis in the same articles. Subjects and Method: The meta-analysis was carried out by systematically reviewing the same number of articles from PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, using the search keywords "ankle foot orthosis" OR "AFO" AND "Stroke" OR "patient stroke" AND "walking speed" OR “Velocity” AND “randomized control trial”. The inclusion criteria used were full paper articles with a randomized controlled trial (RCT), the intervention given was the use of an ankle foot orthosis with a comparison without using an ankle foot orthosis. The research subjects were post-stroke patients of all ages. The study outcome was walking speed, and the article is one in a worldwide study whose research reports an effect size (with mean and standard deviations). Meta-analyzes were performed using RevMan 5 with fixed effect models. Results: Meta-analysis of 6 randomized con­trolled trial articles from the Netherlands, Turkey, India, United Kingdom, Paris, and Canada concluded that the use of 0.09 ankle foot orthosis was higher in increasing the walking speed of post-stroke patients than not using ankle foot orthosis (ES= 0.09; 95% CI= 0.16 to 0.35; p= 0.470). Heterogeneity I 2 = 19%. Conclusion: The use of ankle foot orthosis has an effect on increasing walking speed in post-stroke patients, but it is not statistically significant. Keyword s : stroke, ankle foot orthosis, walking speed Correspondence: Muhibbah Fatati. Masters Program in Public Health. Universitas Sebelas Maret. Jl. Ir. Su­ta­mi 36A, Surakarta 57126, Central Java, Indo­nesia. Email: muhibbahfatati@gmail.com. Mobile: 089633466598. Journal of Epidemiology and Public Health (2020), 05(03): 320-328 https://doi.org/10.26911/jepublichealth.2020.05.03.06.