title: Proprioception of the shoulder after stroke.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate position sense and kinesthesia of the shoulders of stroke patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case-control study.
  
  
  METHODS
  A rehabilitation center.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 22 inpatients with stroke and 10 healthy control subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  Not applicable.
  
  
  METHODS
  Angular displacement (in degrees) for threshold to detection of passive motion (TDPM) tests and absolute error (in degrees) for passive reproduction of joint position tests.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For patients, the TDPM for internal and external rotation was significantly higher for both the contralateral (paretic) side (internal, 7.92 degrees +/-7.19 degrees ; external, 8.46 degrees +/-8.87 degrees ) and the ipsilateral (nonparetic) side (internal, 4.86 degrees +/-5.03 degrees ; external, 6.09 degrees +/-9.15 degrees ) compared with the control group (internal, 1.83 degrees +/-1.09 degrees ; external, 1.71 degrees +/-.85 degrees ). Also, for internal rotation, TDPM was significantly higher for patients on the contralateral side compared with the ipsilateral side. For passive reproduction of joint position tests, no differences were found.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both the contralateral and ipsilateral shoulders of stroke patients showed impaired TDPM. Passive reproduction of joint position does not seem to be affected as a result of a stroke. The control of the muscle spindles and central integration or processing problems of the afferent signals provided by muscle spindles might cause these effects.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute MOVE, Faculty of Human Movement Sciences, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. m.niessen@fbw.vu.nl
authors.forename: Martijn H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Niessen
authors.forename: Dirkjan H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Veeger
authors.forename: Peter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Koppe
authors.forename: Manin H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Konijnenbelt
authors.forename: Jaap
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van Dieën
authors.forename: Thomas W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Janssen
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011434:Proprioception / Q000502:physiology*; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular; D012399:Rotation; D012785:Shoulder Joint / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D020521:Stroke / Q000503:physiopathology*