Method
Participants
A convenience sample of 7 men and
5 women who had had a stroke
(mean [SD] age68.76.9 years)
were recruited for the study. Five
individuals had a left hemispheric
stroke, and 7 individuals had a right
hemispheric stroke. Participants
were included if they were community
dwelling, at least 3 months poststroke,
able to walk on a self-paced
treadmill, and scored at least 25 on
the Mini Mental State Examination.26
Their mean (SD) overground gait
speed during performance of the
10-m walk test was 0.740.42 m/s.
Slow walkers were defined as those
individuals in the lower quartile,
with an overground gait speed of
less than 0.54 m/s. In addition, 4
men and 6 women who were
healthy (mean [SD] age69.77.1
years) were recruited to participate
as a control group. Their mean
(SD) overground gait speed during
performance of the 10-m walk test
was 1.260.20 m/s (available for
only 8 participants in whom subsequent
analyses were done). All participants
signed an informed consent
form prior to the study.