Sylvie Messier ^A1, Daniel Bourbonnais ^A1, Johanne Desrosiers ^{A2, A3}, Yves Roy ^A3
A1 From the School of Rehabilitation, Université de Montréal and Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation of Greater Montreal, Rehabilitation Institute of Montreal, Canada
^A2 Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Sherbrooke, Canada
^A3 Research Centre on Aging, Sherbrooke University Geriatric Institute, Canada
DOI: 10.1080/16501970510026007

Objective: Verify weight-bearing on the feet in a sitting position during pointing in different directions with 1 or both upper limbs. Design: Comparative study. Subjects: Fifteen subjects with post-stroke hemiparesis with good to very good motor recovery and 13 healthy subjects participated in the study. Methods: The subjects were seated on a chair with each foot resting on a force plate. They had to touch with 1 or, simultaneously with both hands, 2 target(s) located in front of them or at a 45° angle on either side at a standardized distance beyond their upper limb's length. The percentage of weight loading variation under each foot was measured. Results: Weight-bearing on the paretic foot is reduced during unilateral and bilateral pointing in the anterior direction and 45° ipsilateral to the paretic side. However, both unilateral and bilateral pointing 45° contralateral to the paretic side produced symmetrical weight-bearing on both feet, paretic and non-paretic. Conclusion: Since the paretic muscles of the trunk are probably used to control the leaning of the trunk towards the non-paretic side, the subjects with hemiparesis may put weight on the paretic foot to compensate for trunk weakness and maintain balance.