TREADMILL TRAINING WITH PARTIAL BODY-WEIGHT SUPPORT COMPARED WITH PHYSIOTHERAPY IN NONAMBULATORY HEMIPARETIC PATIENTS

Background and Purpose Treadmill training with partial body weight sup port is a new and promising therapy in gait rehabilitation of stroke p atients. The study intended to investigate its efficiency compared wit h gait training within regular physiotherapy in nonambulatory patients with chronic hemiparesis. Methods An A-B-A single-case study design c ompared treadmill training plus partial body weight support (A) with p hysiotherapy based on the Bobath concept (B) in seven nonambulatory he miparetic patients. The minimum poststroke interval was 3 months, and each treatment phase lasted 3 weeks. Variables were gait ability asses sed by the Functional Ambulation Category, other motor functions teste d by the Rivermead Motor Assessment, muscle strength assessed by the M otricity Index, muscle tone rated by the Modified Ashworth Spasticity Scale, and gait cycle parameters. Results Treadmill training was more effective with regard to restoration of gait ability (P<.05) and walki ng velocity (P<.05). Other motor functions improved steadily during th e study. Muscle strength did not change, and muscle tone varied in an unsystematic way. The ratio of cadence to stride length did not alter significantly. Conclusions Treadmill training offers the advantages of task-oriented training with numerous repetitions of a supervised gait pattern. It proved powerful in gait restoration of nonambulatory pati ents with chronic hemiparesis. Treadmill training could therefore beco me an adjunctive tool to regain walking ability in a shorter period of time.