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Introduction Community-dwelling adults experiencing concussion remain overlooked and understudied with respect to the impact of injury on daily life activities. The majority of the current literature examines concussion in athletes [...], Objective. Concussion can cause deficits in balance and gait. Much of what is known about how concussion affects balance and gait has been derived from studies involving youth, high school, and university athletes. However, investigation into the effects of concussion on balance and gait in community-dwelling young, middle-age, and older aged adults is limited. This study aimed to present descriptive reference values for common balance and gait measures in community-dwelling adults between the ages of 20 and 69 years with concussion. Methods. In this observational study, 318 participants were enrolled from a concussion care clinic at a rehabilitation hospital in an urban center and were assessed within 7 days of injury. Balance measures included the Balance Error Scoring System (BESS), modified BESS, and center-of-pressure root mean square during quiet standing. Gait measures included velocity (absolute and height adjusted), cadence, and step length during self-paced gait. Data were binned by decade-long age range. Results. Mean (SD) per-decade scores for the BESS ranged from 14.8 (5.1) to 21.8 (5.6) errors and 4.0 (3.0) to 9.4 (4.6) errors for the modified BESS. Mean values for center-of-pressure root mean square in the anteroposterior direction ranged from 0.42 (0.18) to 0.52 (0.26) with the eyes open, and from 0.49 (0.19) to 0.62 (0.39) with eyes closed. Mean absolute gait velocity ranged from 98.5 (9.1) to 119.3 (21.3) cm/s. The range of step length values was 58.2 (6.8) to 66.3 (7.3) cm and cadence ranged from 102.1 (9.8) to 108.6 (10.8) steps/min across age groups. Conclusion. These data provide insight into the impact of concussion on balance and mobility in community-dwelling adults across the lifespan. Impact. Community-dwelling adults can experience concussion across the lifespan. Availability of reference values for commonly used balance and gait measures can help to inform clinical strategies and progression of recovery of balance and mobility after injury. Keywords: Adult, Balance, Concussion, Gait

Introduction Stroke is the leading cause of adult disability in the Western world. (1) Activity limitations are caused by impairments in body structure and function. (2) Following a stroke, loss [...], Objective. The objectives of this review were to determine the relationship between muscle strength of the affected leg and walking speed after stroke and whether this relationship varied according to muscle group or level of walking disability. Methods. This systematic review with meta-analysis focused on observational studies of adult survivors of stroke. Muscle strength had to be measured as maximum voluntary force production during an isometric contraction of the affected leg. Walking had to be measured as walking speed. Studies had to report correlations between muscle strength and walking speed. Results. Thirty studies involving 1001 participants were included. Pooled mean correlations between muscle strength of the affected leg and walking speed was 0.51 (95% CI =0.45 to 0.57). Pooled correlations between the strength of individual muscle groups and walking speed ranged from 0.42 (for the hip abductors) to 0.57 (for the ankle dorsiflexors). The correlation between level of walking disability and the mean correlation between muscle strength and walking speed was -0.70 (95% CI = -0.42 to -0.86). Conclusion. After stroke, there is a strong relationship between strength of the affected leg and walking speed, with little variability across individual muscle groups. However, the level of walking disability of people with stroke does make a difference such that the more disabled people are, the stronger the relationship is between strength of the affected leg and walking speed. Impact. This study suggests that the strength of all muscles of the affected leg is important for walking after stroke. It appears that increasing strength in the affected leg could be most important in people who are more disabled. Lay Summary. After stroke, the speed at which a person can walk is highly associated with the muscle strength of their affected leg. In people whose walking speed is severely affected, this association is stronger, and the physical therapist might focus on strengthening that leg so the individual can walk faster. Keywords: Gait, Meta-Analysis, Strength, Stroke, Systematic Review, Walking