Focus of attention and dynamic postural control in individuals post-stroke

Maintaining an external focus of attention (FA), as with virtual reality exercise gaming, may be effective in encouraging greater dynamic lateral movements and greater weight bearing for individuals post stroke. This study sought to compare center of pressure movements for individuals post-stroke under three conditions (internal FA, external FA, virtual reality) and compare these differences to healthy older and younger adults. The post-stroke group had greater average weight bearing on the paretic limb during VR tasks than the internal and external FA tasks. The PS group had consistently lower values on all dynamic postural variables compared with both YA and OA groups. However, all three groups showed a similar FA effect, with generally greater range in the VR compared with the internal FA task.