Article

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of various forms of training interventions, with
and without virtual reality, on the initiation and maintenance of active
participation during robot-assisted gait training.
DESIGN: Intervention study at
the Rehabilitation Centre Affoltern a. A., University Children's Hospital,
Zurich. SUBJECTS: Ten patients (5 males, mean age 12.47 years, standard deviation
1.84 years) with different neurological gait disorders and 14 healthy children (7
males, mean age 11.76 years, standard deviation 2.75 years). METHODS: All
participants walked in the driven gait orthosis Lokomat(R) in 4 different
randomly-assigned conditions. Biofeedback values calculated during swing phases
were the primary outcome measure and secondary outcomes were derived from a
questionnaire assessing the participant's motivation. RESULTS: Findings revealed
a significant main effect for training condition in all participants (p < 0.001),
for patients (p < 0.05) and for healthy controls (p < 0.01). Overall, both
virtual reality-assisted therapy approaches were equally the most effective in
initiating the desired active participation in all children, compared with
conventional training conditions. Motivation was very high and differed between
the groups only in the virtual navigation condition. CONCLUSION: Novel virtual
reality-based training conditions represent a valuable approach to enhance active
participation during robot-assisted gait training in patients and healthy controls.

Langue : ANGLAIS