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

• Published in: Journal of Physical Therapy Science 2015, Vol.27(1), pp.159-163
• Main Authors: Takao, Toshifumi, Tanaka, Naoki, Iizuka, Noboru, Saitou, Hideyuki, Tamaoka, Akira, Yanagi, Hisako
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Body weight support; Community-dwelling; Hemiparesis; Original
• ISSN: 0915-5287; 2187-5626
• DOI: 10.1589/jpts.27.159

[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.