Relationship between stride length and walking rate in gait training for hemiparetic stroke patients

Sixty-three male hemiparetic patients in the recovery stage were examined t o investigate the relationship between stride length and walking rate durin g computer-assisted gait training during a period of 4 wk, The maximum walk ing speed for 10 m was significantly increased from 32.3 to 53.2 m/min on a verage, and the stride length and walking rate also increased. However, the ratio of stride length to walking rate did not change significantly in 4 w k, with the mean value being 0.0068 m/steps/min, approximately one-half tha t of healthy adults based on data from previous reports. The ratio of strid e length to walking rate for hemiplegic gait was invariant during the 4 wk of computer-assisted gait training, which is also true at different speeds for healthy adults. These results indicate that the maximum walking speed w as significantly improved, with an invariant relationship between stride le ngth and walking rate, and suggest that the ratio could be used as an index for gait training.