Do Knee Joint Orthoses Affect the Functional Status of Stroke Patients? A Literature Review

Stroke is the leading cause of adult disability in developed countries. As a result of damage to the central nervous system, the patient's independence in performing everyday activities is reduced, which often leads to dependence on the environment. The symptoms of syndromes affect many functions, including: speech, the upper limb, gait, balance and coordination disorders. These disorders lead to a decrease in the patient's quality of life. Many patients require knee braces to learn to walk. In this review article, the most commonly used scales used to assess the functional status of patients after stroke are discussed, with particular attention being paid to gait assessment. We described simple (basic ADL) and instrumental (extended) scales of activities of daily living (instrumental, extended ADL), methods of clinical gait and balance assessment, International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health, ICF), as well as recommendations of the European Stroke Organisation (ESO, Neurorehabilitation Committee). These guidelines regard methods of evaluating the results of post-stroke rehabilitation for clinical use - Outcome Measures for Clinical Use, in which, among others, the Berg scale and the timed Up & Go test are recommended for the lower limb, the Barthel scale and the Functional Independence Measure for ADL, and the Stroke Impact Scale for the participation column in all 3 ICF domains. In the article, the current state of knowledge is presented regarding the impact of knee braces on the functional status of people after stroke. Mechanical knee and ankle orthoses are called KAFO (Knee Ankle Foot Orthosis). Their main tasks include immobilisation of the knee joint and aid in learning to walk.