Article

The purpose of the study was to evaluate selected temporal and spatial gait
parameters in patients with intermittent claudication after completion of 12-week
supervised treadmill walking training. The study included 36 patients (26 males
and 10 females) aged: mean 64 (SD 7.7) with intermittent claudication. All
patients were tested on treadmill (Gait Trainer, Biodex).
Before the programme
and after its completion, the following gait biomechanical parameters were
tested: step length (cm), step cycle (cycle/s), leg support time (%), coefficient
of step variation (%) as well as pain-free walking time (PFWT) and maximal
walking time (MWT) were measured. Training was conducted in accordance with the
current TASC II guidelines. After 12 weeks of training, patients showed
significant change in gait biomechanics consisting in decreased frequency of step
cycle (p < 0.05) and extended step length (p < 0.05). PFWT increased by 96% (p <
0.05). MWT increased by 100% (p < 0.05). After completing the training, patients'
gait was more regular, which was expressed via statistically significant decrease
of coefficient of variation (p < 0.05) for both legs. No statistically
significant relation between the post-training improvement of PFWT and MWT and
step length increase and decreased frequency of step cycle was observed (p >
0.05). Implications for Rehabilitation Twelve-week treadmill walking training
programme may lead to significant improvement of temporal and spatial gait
parameters in patients with intermittent claudication. Twelve-week treadmill
walking training programme may lead to significant improvement of pain-free
walking time and maximum walking time in patients with intermittent claudication.

Langue : ANGLAIS