A comparison of regular rehabilitation and regular rehabilitation with supported treadmill ambulation training for acute stroke patients

The purpose of this pilot study was to compare differences in motor recover y between regular rehabilitation (REG), and regular rehabilitation with sup ported treadmill ambulation training (STAT) using the performance on a bicy cle exercise test and the locomotor scale of the Functional Independence Me asure (FIM-L). Twelve patients with acute strokes were randomly assigned to either REG or STAT for 2 to 3 weeks. The STAT group received daily gait tr aining utilizing a treadmill with partial support of body weight. After int ervention, the STAT group had higher oxygen consumption (11.34 +/- 0.88 vs 8.32 +/- 0.88 ml/kg/min, p=0.039), total workload (58.75 +/- 7.09 vs 45.42 +/- 7.09 watts, p=ns), and total time pedaling the bike (288.91 +/- 30.61 v s 211.42 +/- 30.61 s, p=ns) compared To the REG group. The FIM-L scores wer e not different for the two groups. This pilot study suggests that the STAT intervention is a promising technique for acute stroke rehabilitation, and that future studies with larger sample sizes are warranted to establish th e effectiveness of this intervention.