Improvement of gait ability with a short-term intensive gait rehabilitation program using body weight support treadmill training in community dwelling chronic poststroke survivors

Abstract

[Purpose] Most previous studies have shown that body weight support treadmill training (BWSTT) can improve gait speed poststroke patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate effectiveness of a short-term intensive program using BWSTT among community dwelling poststroke survivors. [Subjects] Eighteen subjects participated in this study. The treatment group was composed of 10 subjects (2 women; 8 men; mean age, 59.1 ± 12.5 years; time since stroke onset, 35.3 ± 33.2 months), whereas the control group was made up of 8 subjects (3 women; 5 men; mean age, 59.8 ± 6.3 years; time since stroke onset, 39.3 ± 27.3 months). [Methods] The treatment group received BWSTT 3 times a week for 4 weeks (a total of 12 times), with each session lasting 20 minutes. The main outcome measures were maximum gait speed on a flat floor, cadence, and step length. [Results] No differences were observed in the baseline clinical data between the 2 groups. The gait speed in the treatment group was significantly improved compared with that in the control by 2-way ANOVA, while the other parameters showed no significant interaction. [Conclusion] These results suggested that short-term intensive gait rehabilitation using BWSTT was useful for improving gait ability among community dwelling poststroke subjects.

Conditioning Effects of Backward Treadmill Training in Children With Spastic Diplegic Cerebral Palsy

“…Traditional treadmill gait training, which is one type of commonly used repetitive gait training, improves motor learning and lower limb muscle strength, activates locomotor control systems, and enables children to experience the habits and task-specific gait behaviors that affect functional ability [3,4]. A relatively new way to increase the challenge of walking is to walk backwards.…”

The Spinal Cord, Not to Be Forgotten: the Final Common Path for Development, Training and Recovery of Motor Function

“…Clinical Applications to Other Neurologic Pathologies Although the initial application of locomotor training to improve spinal cord networks in people with neurologic injury was applied to people with SCI, BWSTT has also been clinically applied as a rehabilitation intervention for people post-stroke (Dean et al, 2010;Middleton et al, 2014;Takao et al, 2015), with Parkinson's disease (Evans & Cook, 2007), and with cerebral palsy (Cherng, Liu, Lau, & Hong, 2007;Day, Fox, Lowe, Swales, & Behrman, 2004;Mattern-Baxter, 2009). The evidence that task-specific training improves connections of spinal networks through activity-dependent use and training, and the presence of the equipment in the rehabilitation centers, provided the opportunity to implement the intervention as a means for assisting those with other sources of neurologic disability.…”

“…The evidence that task-specific training improves connections of spinal networks through activity-dependent use and training, and the presence of the equipment in the rehabilitation centers, provided the opportunity to implement the intervention as a means for assisting those with other sources of neurologic disability. BWSTT essentially became a task-specific exercise to build an improved neural network within the spinal cord to provide a resource to support and improve walking when other aspects of the nervous system are impaired (Evans & Cook, 2007;Takao et al, 2015;Mattern-Baxter, 2009).…”

Anti-gravity treadmill can promote aerobic exercise for lower limb osteoarthritis patients

“…To overcome these issues, a method of facilitating aerobic exercise using a harness to lift the patient on a treadmill while a counterweight supports some of their body weight has been widely used not only in patients with lower limb osteoarthritis but also those with other conditions such as cerebrovascular disease 7 , 8 ) . However, many aspects of this approach are problematic, such as the time required to fit the harness and pain caused by localized harness pressure.…”