Abstract
Background. Partial unweighted treadmill training is a potentially effective modality for improving fitness and function in frail elders. We tested the feasibility of partial unweighted treadmill training in older, mobility-impaired veterans. Methods. Eight mobility-impaired elders participated in partial unweighted treadmill training three times/week for twelve weeks. Outcome measures included gait speed, performance-oriented mobility assessment (POMA), eight foot up and go, and the SF-36 physical functioning short form. Results. There was significant improvement in treadmill walking time (+8.5 minutes; P < 0.001), treadmill walking speed (+0.14 meters/second; P = 0.02), and percent of body weight support (−2.2%; P = 0.02). Changes in physical performance included usual gait speed (+0.12 meters/second; P = 0.001), rapid gait speed (+0.13 meters/second; P = 0.01), POMA (+2.4 summary score; P < 0.001), and eight foot up and go (−1.2 seconds; P = 0.05). Conclusions. Partial unweighted treadmill training is feasible in mobility-impaired elders. Improvements in treadmill training capacity resulted in clinically meaningful improvements in fitness levels and improved mobility.
Highlights
Body weight supported treadmill training (BWSTT) has emerged over the last twenty years as a rehabilitation method focused on improving gait and function [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]
Usual gait speed was less than 1.0 meter/second for all but participant number 3, whose gait speed was 1.1 meters/second
The length of the intervention was minimal at twelve weeks. This pilot study demonstrated the feasibility of unweighted treadmill training in mobility-impaired elders
Summary
Body weight supported treadmill training (BWSTT) has emerged over the last twenty years as a rehabilitation method focused on improving gait and function [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10]. We view certain components of BWSTT (principally partial unweighting) as potentially very effective in improving the fitness and function of slow and/or unsteady walking elders. Partial unweighted treadmill training has potential to fill a clinical need for mobility-impaired participants in an outpatient exercise and health promotion program for senior veterans (see program description below). Partial unweighted treadmill training is a potentially effective modality for improving fitness and function in frail elders. Eight mobility-impaired elders participated in partial unweighted treadmill training three times/week for twelve weeks. Improvements in treadmill training capacity resulted in clinically meaningful improvements in fitness levels and improved mobility
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