Abstract
Purpose: This study examined changes in gait speed and stride length after an intervention involving simultaneous scapular and pelvic patterns of proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation in a hemiplegic patient. Methods: A 58-year-old woman with left hemiplegia who had complained of slowness of gait speed and weakness of leg strength took part in an intervention involving scapular postdepression patterns on the affected side and pelvic postdepression patterns on the nonaffected side. The intervention was performed with the patient lying on her left side, in a half kneeling position, and in a standing posture. Rhythmic initiation was used for teaching the movements to the patient and improvement of kinesthesia, and a combination of isotonic was employed for increasing strength and irradiation of the scapula and pelvic movement. The intervention took place for 30 min. It was implemented twice a day, 5 days a week, for 3 weeks. After three repetitions, the average time taken to complete the 10-m walk test (10 MWT), in addition to stride length, was measured to determine gait speed. Results: After the 3-week program, the patient's performance in the 10 MWT improved from 21.7sec to 17.1sec, and her stride length improved from 31.4cm to 38.7cm. Conclusion: The results showed that trunk movement exercise, especially coordinative movements of the scapula and pelvis can improve gait speed and stride length by increasing trunk stability and mobility. A combination of pelvic and scapular patterns can facilitate trunk rotation, thereby improving gait speed and stride length.