Abstract
This study was undertaken to investigate several factors influencing standing balance, activity of daily living and ambulation in hemiplegic patients after cerebro-vascular diseases. A statistical analysis of 121 hemiplegic patients with unilateral supratentorial lesions showed that age, severity of muscle weakness of involved or uninvolved extremities, unilateral spatial neglect and the sense of toe position had influence on standing balance, activity of daily living or ambulation. The patients were divided into five groups based on the degree of unilateral spatial neglect, evaluated by their copies of two daisies who omitted more than three quarters, three quarters, half, one quarter and none of the figures were defined as the USN-4, USN-3, USN-2, USN-1 and no involvement groups, respectively. Those who belonged to the USN-2 group had significantly lower scores for activity of daily living than those who belonged to the no involvement group. In the USN-2 group, 7 of the 8 patients could not keep standing for 50 seconds, while in the no involvement group, this was the case in only 1 of the 15 patients. Activity of daily living scores or sway area during standing showed no statistically significant differences between the USN-1 and no involvement groups. These results suggested that severe or moderate unilateral spatial neglect is one of the most important factors influencing standing balance and activity of daily living.

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