Mechanically assisted walking with body weight support is more effective than overground walking at increasing independent walking in non-ambulatory patients early after stroke .
QUESTION Does mechanically assisted walking with body weight support result in more independent walking and is it detrimental to walking speed or capacity in non-ambulatory patients early after stroke ?
Randomized Trial of Treadmill Walking With Body Weight Support to Establish Walking in Subacute Stroke: The MOBILISE Trial
Background and Purpose — The main objective of this r and omized trial was to determine whether treadmill walking with body weight support was effective at establishing independent walking more often and earlier than current physiotherapy intervention for nonambulatory stroke patients . Methods — A r and omized trial with concealed allocation , blinded assessment , and intention-to-treat analysis was conducted . One hundred twenty-six stroke patients who were unable to walk were recruited and r and omly allocated to an experimental or a control group within 4 weeks of stroke . The experimental group undertook up to 30 minutes per day of treadmill walking with body weight support via an overhead harness whereas the control group undertook up to 30 minutes of overground walking . The primary outcome was the proportion of participants achieving independent walking within 6 months . Results — Kaplan – Meier estimates of the proportion of experimental participants who achieved independent walking were 37 % compared with 26 % of the control group at 1 month , 66 % compared with 55 % at 2 months , and 71 % compared with 60 % at 6 months ( P=0.13 ) . The experimental group walked 2 weeks earlier , with a median time to independent walking of 5 weeks compared to 7 weeks for the control group . In addition , 14 % ( 95 % CI , −1–28 ) more of the experimental group were discharged home . Conclusions — Treadmill walking with body weight support is feasible , safe , and tends to result in more people walking independently and earlier after stroke . Trial Registration — NN Clinical Trial.gov ( NCT00167531 )
Mechanically assisted walking with body weight support is more effective than overground walking at increasing independent walking in non-ambulatory patients early after stroke .
QUESTION Does mechanically assisted walking with body weight support result in more independent walking and is it detrimental to walking speed or capacity in non-ambulatory patients early after stroke ?