Article

Regaining of the patient's ability to walk after stroke is an important goal of
rehabilitation programmes. The ultimate goal of gait rehabilitation is to empower
patients for overground walking. We have previously developed a prototype of a
therapist-controlled mobile platform with compliant pelvis support mechanism that
enables balance training during overground walking
(device E-go). The aim of this
pilot randomized controlled study was to explore the usefulness of the E-go in
reducing the number of therapists needed during walking training, and to explore
the effectiveness of the E-go on walking abilities in severely affected stroke
patients. The study included 19 subacute poststroke patients divided into two
groups. The experimental group (nine patients) trained to walk with the E-go and
the control group trained within conventional physiotherapy programs for 3 weeks.
Outcome measures were walking distance and speed, Fugl-Meyer Assessment, Berg
Balance Scale, Functional Ambulation Category and the number of therapists needed
during training. At the end of the training both groups significantly improved in
walking speed, walking distance, Berg Balance Scale and Fugl-Meyer Assessment
(P</=0.001), but there were no between-group differences.
The experimental group
on average needed a lower number of therapists (P=0.040). These findings
highlight the potential of the E-go for overground walking training in severely disabled subacute stroke patients.

Langue : ANGLAIS