EVALUATION OF A TRAINING-PROGRAM FOR PERSONS WITH SCI PARAPLEGIA USING THE PARASTEP(R)1 AMBULATION SYSTEM .1. AMBULATION PERFORMANCE AND ANTHROPOMETRIC MEASURES

Objective: To describe performance parameters and effects on anthropom etric measures in spinal cord injured subjects training with the Paras tep(R) 1 system.Design: Before-after trial. Setting: Human spinal cord injury applied research laboratory. Participants: Thirteen men and 3 women with thoracic (T4-T11) motor-complete spinal cord injury: mean a ge, 28.8yrs; mean duration postinjury, 3.8yrs. Intervention: Thirty-tw o functional neuromuscular stimulation ambulation training sessions us ing a commercially available system (Parastep-1). The hybrid system co nsists of a microprocessor-controlled stimulator and a modified walkin g frame with finger-operated switches that permit the user to control the stimulation parameters and activate the stepping. Outcome Measures : Distance walked, time spent standing and walking, pace, circumferent ial (shoulders, chest, abdomen, waist, hips, upper arm, thigh, and cal f) and skinfold (chest, triceps, axilla, subscapular, supraillium, abd omen, and thigh) measurements, body weight, thigh cross-sectional area , and calculated lean tissue. Results: Statistically significant chang es in distance, time standing and walking, and pace were found. Increa ses in thigh and calf girth, thigh cross-sectional area, and calculate d lean tissue, as well as a decrease in thigh skinfold measure, were a ll statistically significant. Conclusions: The Parastep(R) 1 system en ables persons with thoracic-level spinal cord injuries to stand and am bulate short distances but with a high degree of performance variabili ty across individuals. The factors that influence this variability hav e not been completely identified. (C) 1997 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.