Study design Randomized clinical trial. Background & purpose The goal of this prospective study was to evaluate the efficacy of open vs. closed kinematic chain exercises on gait performance in sub acute stroke patients.  Materials &methods Thirty patients were randomly allocated in to two groups :open kinematic chain (OKC) group and closed kinematic chain (CKC) group comprising of 15 patients in each of these groups for a 5 week program. Subjects were tested on two measurement scales of functional ambulation profile (FAP) and ink footprint record method on two occasions during the study i.e. prior to the beginning of the rehabilitation program and 5 weeks after the training. Data analysis &result
Both groups experienced a statistically significant improvement in gait performance by kinematic chain exercises though there were favorable and significant differences between the effects of open kinematic chain and closed kinematic chain exercises. Results show that CKC proved to be more beneficial in improving gait performance as compared to OKCE.  Conclusion The few significantly better functional results for some of the tested parameters in the closed kinematic chain group suggest that this type of exercise is more effective than the open kinematic chain program in rehabilitation of these patients. Thus this study gives a greater clinical confidence in deciding effective protocol for stroke patients.

Key words stroke, hemiplegia, gait, kinematic chain exercises.