The effects of foot position on erector spinae and gluteus maximus muscle activation during sit-to-stand in persons with stroke

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of different foot positioning on bilateral erector spinae (ES) and gluteus maximaus (GM) activation during sit-to-stand in stroke patients using surface electromyography(EMG). Fifteen randomly selected stroke patients participated and were required to perform sit-to-stand (STS) with three different strategies as follows: 1) symmetric foot position, 2) unaffected foot placed behind the affected foot position (asymmetric-1), 3) affected foot placed behind the unaffected foot position (asymmetric-2). The EMG system was used to measure erector spinae and gluteus maximus muscle activation. All conditions were conducted randomly and the mean values were obtained from muscle activity being measured 5 times. One-way repeated measure ANOVA was used to determine statistical significance of differences between each conditions. According to the results, the affected erector spine muscle activation was significantly greater with asymmetric-2 compared to symmetrical foot placement (p<0.05). In addition, the affected ES, nonaffected ES, and affected gluteus maxims muscle activation was significantly greater with asymmetric-2 compared to asymmetric-1 (p<0.05). Our results suggest that it may be more effective for patients with stroke to place the affected foot behind the unaffected foot when performing STS to increase erector spinae and affected gluteus muscle activation and to include as part of a valuable clinical intervention.