Article

Treadmill training with body weight support (TTBWS) for relearning
walking ability after brain damage is an approach under current investigation.
Efficiency of this method beyond traditional training is lacking evidence,
especially in patients needing walking assistance after stroke. The objective of
this study was to investigate change in walking and transfer abilities, comparing
TTBWS with traditional walking training. METHODS: A single-blinded, randomized
controlled trial was conducted. Sixty patients referred for multi-disciplinary
primary rehabilitation were assigned into one of two intervention groups, one
received 30 sessions of TTBWS plus traditional training, the other traditional
training alone. Daily training was 1 hr. Outcome measures were Functional
Ambulation Categories (FAC), Walking, Functional Independence Measure (FIM);
shorter transfer and stairs, 10 m and 6-min walk tests. RESULTS: Substantial
improvements in walking and transfer were shown within both groups after 5 and 11
weeks of intervention. Overall no statistical significant differences were found
between the groups, but 12 of 17 physical measures tended to show improvements in
favour of the treadmill approach. CONCLUSIONS: Both training strategies provided
significant improvements in the tested activities, suggesting that similar outcomes can be obtained in the two modalities by systematic, intensive and goal
directed training.

Langue : ANGLAIS