Evaluation of knee proprioception on the nonhemiplegic side in patients with chronic stroke

Proprioception is the awareness of the position of body parts in space while eyes are closed. The sense of proprioception is important for correct posture and movement. Loss of proprioception sense after stroke may adversely affect balance and posture. Stroke is a sudden onset disease resulting from impaired brain perfusion that causes long-term disability and is a major health burden for society. The aim of this study is to investigate whether there is a loss of knee proprioception sense in the non-hemiplegic sides of patients in the chronic period after stroke. 30 hemiplegic patients and 30 healthy individuals included in the study constituted the experimental and control groups. The proprioception sense of the participants, who were divided into groups, was tested one by one. During the test, the sense of proprioception was measured 5 times for each individual and the averages of the measurements were taken. The demographic information and measurements of the participants were recorded in the evaluation form. The mean value of proprioception sense measured in the experimental group was calculated as 7.06±1.19, and 2.69±0.85 in the control group. The level of proprioception sense in the experimental group was measured as 4.40 minimum and 9.20 maximum. In the control group, the value of proprioception sense was measured as 1.40 minimum and 4.80 maximum. When the knee joint position sense is compared between the groups, there was a statistically significant difference. Data indicates that the knee proprioception of the non-hemiplegic side of stroke patients was affected and poor compared with the knee proprioception of healthy individuals.