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 ?
Effectiveness of gait training using an electromechanical gait trainer, with and without functional electric stimulation, in subacute stroke: a randomized controlled trial.
OBJECTIVE To compare the therapeutic effects of conventional gait training ( CGT ) , gait training using an electromechanical gait trainer ( EGT ) , and gait training using an electromechanical gait trainer with functional electric stimulation ( EGT-FES ) in people with subacute stroke . DESIGN Nonblinded r and omized controlled trial . SETTING Rehabilitation hospital for adults . PARTICIPANTS Fifty patients were recruited within 6 weeks after stroke onset ; 46 of these completed the 4-week training period . INTERVENTION Participants were r and omly assigned to 1 of 3 gait intervention groups : CGT , EGT , or EGT-FES . The experimental intervention was a 20-minute session per day , 5 days a week ( weekdays ) for 4 weeks . In addition , all participants received their 40-minute sessions of regular physical therapy every weekday as part of their treatment by the hospital . MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Five-meter walking speed test , Elderly Mobility Scale ( EMS ) , Berg Balance Scale , Functional Ambulatory Category ( FAC ) , Motricity Index leg subscale , FIM instrument score , and Barthel Index . RESULTS The EGT and EGT-FES groups had statistically significantly more improvement than the CGT group in the 5-m walking speed test ( CGT vs EGT , P=.011 ; CGT vs EGT-FES , P=.001 ) , Motricity Index ( CGT vs EGT-FES , P=.011 ) , EMS ( CGT vs EGT , P=.006 ; CGT vs EGT-FES , P=.009 ) , and FAC ( CGT vs EGT , P=.005 ; CGT vs EGT-FES , P=.002 ) after the 4 weeks of training . No statistically significant differences were found between the EGT and EGT-FES groups in all outcome measures . CONCLUSIONS In this sample with subacute stroke , participants who trained on the electromechanical gait trainer with body-weight support , with or without FES , had a faster gait , better mobility , and improvement in functional ambulation than participants who underwent conventional gait training . Future studies with assessor blinding and larger sample sizes are warranted
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 ?