RESTORATION OF GAIT IN NONAMBULATORY HEMIPARETIC PATIENTS BY TREADMILL TRAINING WITH PARTIAL BODY-WEIGHT SUPPORT

The effect of a treadmill training with partial body-weight support wa s investigated in nine nonambulatory hemiparetic patients with a mean poststroke interval of 129 days. They had received regular physiothera py within a comprehensive stroke rehabilitation program at least 3 wee ks before the treadmill training without marked improvement of their g ait ability. After 25 additional treadmill training sessions scoring o f functional performance and conventional gait analysis showed a defin ite improvement: gait ability, assessed by the Functional Ambulation C ategory (0 to 5) improved with a mean of 2.2 points, other motor funct ions, assessed by the Rivermead Motor Assessment Score with a mean of +3.9 points for gross function (range 0 to 1.3) and of +3.2 points for leg and trunk section (range 0 to 10)] and gait cycle parameters (p < .01). Muscle tone and strength of the paretic lower limb remained sta ble. We suggest that treadmill training with partial body-weight suppo rt could augment restoration of ambulation and other motor functions i n hemiparetic patients by active and repetitive training.