The effects of body-weight-supported treadmill training on peak moment of lower limb in early stage of stroke

Abstract

Objective To explore the outcome of body-weight-supported treadmill training on the kinetic data of lower limb in early stage of stroke.Methods Twenty-seven hemiplegic stroke patients at early stage were recruited and randomized to an experimental group(n =15) and a control group (n =12).Both groups were administered with routine neurological interventions.In addition,the control group was treated with conventional physiotherapy and over-ground walking training,while the experimental group was treated with body-weight-supported treadmill training.The speed of the treadmill walking was started at 0.22 m/s and increased to 0.60 ～ 0.80 m/s gradually.The percentage of the body-weight being supported was not more than 30％,the training time was 5 min per session at the beginning and was increased gradually to 20 ～ 40 min.Kinetic parameters were measured by using two force plates (AMT) and six cameras capture svstem (Vicon Nexus),and motor function was evaluated using Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) at baseline and after three-week's therapy.Peak moment of lower limb joints,ground reaction force and motor function were analyzed.Results FMA scores were significantly improved (P ＜ 0.05) in both groups after treatment,but there was no significant differences (P ＜ 0.05) between the two group.Ground reaction force was significantly increased (P ＜ 0.05) after treatment in the experiment group,but not in control group (P ＞ 0.05).It showed that the hip extension moment at the affected side was significantly lower (P ＜ 0.05) in experiment group than in the control group,the ankle joint flexion and extension moment peak were improved to a significantly larger extend in the experimental group (P ＜ 0.05) than in the control group.In addition,the peak flexion and extension moment of the hip-knee joint and peak flexion and extension moment of the knee-ankle joint were also significantly different from those of the control group (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Body-weight-supported treadmill training can facilitate motor recovery of paretic extremity by increasing ground reaction force and load support of the affected lower limb,and help normalize the abnormal gait pattern of lower extremity of stroke patients. Key words: Stroke; Body-weight-supported treadmill training; Moment; Motor recovery