Effects of a robotic walking exercise on walking performance in community‐dwelling elderly adults

Abstract

Reduced gait speed and stride length are characteristic of gait in elderly people and increase their dependency on assistance. We developed a robotic stride assistance system (SAS) to automatically control the walk ratio during walking. Our aim was to quantify the effects of a walking exercise with the SAS on walking performance and glucose metabolism during walking in community-dwelling elderly adults. For 3 months, 15 women (72-85 years old) performed the walking exercise twice weekly for 90 min/session. We assessed walking for 5 m at a comfortable speed before and after the intervention. Positron emission tomography with [(18)F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) was used to assess muscle activity during an unassisted 50-min walk. Walking speed was improved by the intervention and FDG uptake by the gluteus minimus, gluteus medius and rectus femoris, and pelvic muscles (iliacus and gluteus muscles) were reduced. These results suggest that a walking intervention program using an applied robotic system is useful for improving the walking ability and the efficiency of muscle activities during walking in the elderly.