Strategies Adopted by Stroke Patients to Maintain Balance in Dynamic Tasks in a Video Game

Postural instability affects motor tasks after a stroke. We investigated the strategies used to maintain balance during quiet standing posture and dynamic tasks in a video game. Sixteen stroke volunteers (12 males, 56 +/- 9 years, post-stroke time 35 +/- 10 months) and sixteen matched healthy volunteers had their biomechanical data collected to obtain the variables: center of mass, base of support, margin of stability, and weight symmetry. Healthy individuals and stroke patients showed similar dynamic stability. However, they adopted different motor strategies to achieve this: healthy individuals increased their base of support as they progressed to more challenging tasks, and stroke volunteers maintained the same base. The margin of stability of stroke volunteers was correlated with the MiniBEST scale.