Protocol: Effects of Functional Electrical Stimulation and Ankle-Foot Orthosis Use on Functional Mobility in Individuals With Post-Stroke Hemiplegia: An Exploratory Within-Participant Study

this exploratory study aimed to examine the individual and combined effects of ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) use and functional electrical stimulation (FES) on functional mobility in individuals with post-stroke hemiplegia, as assessed by the 3-m Timed Up and Go test (TUG), using a 2 × 2 within-participant factorial design. Specifically, we investigated the main effects of AFO use and FES and their interaction, with the primary comparison prespecified as combined AFO and FES use versus AFO use alone. We hypothesized that adding FES to an AFO would improve functional mobility compared with AFO use alone.