Treadmill Therapy and Brain Injuries

The Effect of Treadmill Therapy With Body Weight Support on Walking and Transfer in Patients With Moderate to Severe Ambulatory Deficits After Stroke

Introduction. There is a demand for evidence whether treadmill therapy is more efficient than traditional walking training as an intervention for patients with hemiplegia after cerebral stroke. Design. A randomized controlled trial. Material. Stroke patients with moderate to severe functional deficits referred to inpatient medical rehabilitation. Method. Comparing a treatment group receiving treadmill training with body weight support with a treatment group receiving conventional walking training. Study aim: Investigate whether treadmill therapy is more effective than traditional functional training in restoring walking and transfer in patients with moderate to severe ambulatory deficits after stroke.

Patients assigned to the "Treadmill therapy group" received daily 30 minutes specific walking training on "treadmill with body weight support" alternatively overground, and 30 minutes functional training, treated by a physiotherapist.

Patients assigned to the comparative conventional walking therapy group received daily 30 minutes specific traditional walking training overground and 30 minutes functional training, treated by a physiotherapist.

The experimental group received 30 sessions of treadmill therapy with body weight support for a time period of 10 weeks. The conventional group received traditional walking therapy for the same time period.

Functional Ambulation Categories. Ten meter walking test. Six minutes walking test. Functional Independence Measure (task 9 shorter transfer and task 13 stairs).

EU-Walking Index. Time of "Shorter transfer". Time of "Climbing stairs". Performance of climbing stairs. Heart rate registration. * Temporospatial 3D gait data (a sub group analysis). ** Semistructured interview.

Inclusion Criteria: Cerebral stoke Hemiplegia Primary rehabilitation Medical stable Wheelchair user Dependent of assistance for walking Dependent of maximum one person for transfer No physical impairments that could prevent walking ability from being restored Able to participate in the training modalities Exclusion Criteria: Medical unstable Orthopaedic or other impairments preventing relearning walking Cognitive impairments that prevents understanding the study information Cognitive or psychological impairments that prevents study collaboration

Moseley AM, Stark A, Cameron ID, Pollock A. Treadmill training and body weight support for walking after stroke. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2005 Oct 19;(4):CD002840. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD002840.pub2.