Effect of Gait Training With a Walking Assist Robot on Gait Function and Balance in Elderly Adults

Effect of Gait Training With a Walking Assist Robot on Gait Function and Balance in Elderly Adults

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of gait training with the new wearable hip assist robot developed by Samsung Advance Institute of Technology (Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd, Korea) in elderly adults.

Eight elderly adults will participate in this study. All subjects will receive training 3 times per week for 8 weeks for 24 training sessions. Each session is directed by a licensed physical therapist and lasted 60 min (including rest period of 10 min). Brain activity and gait assessment will be performed at visits 0 (baseline), 24 (post-test), and at 3 months (follow-up) after training.

Primary objective is to demonstrate the effects of hip assist robot on spatio-temporal parameters measured by motion capture system (Motion Analysis Corporation, Santa Rosa, CA, USA), muscle activation patterns measured by surface electromyography (sEMG) (Noraxon Inc., Scottsdale, AZ, USA), metabolic energy cost parameters measured by portable cardiopulmonary metabolic system (Cosmed K4B2, Rome, Italy) and cortical activation measured by functional Near-Infrared-Spectroscopy (fNIRS) (NIRScout, NIRx, Germany).

Secondary objective is to demonstrate the effects of hip assist robot on motor function improvement evaluated by Short Physical Performance Battery Protocol and Score Sheet (SPPB), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Dynamic Gait Index (DGI), Timed Up and Go (TUG) test, Push and Release (P&R) test, Functional Reach Test (FRT), Korean version Fall Efficacy Scale (K-FES), Manual Muscle Test (MMT) and Range of Motion (ROM).

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Age: between 65 and 84 years elderly adults who had no neurological or musculoskeletal abnormalities affecting gait
2. Ability to walk at least 10m regardless of assist devices
3. High levels of physical performance (SPPB > 7)
4. Subject is willing to be randomized to the control group or the treatment group

Exclusion Criteria:

1. History of any diseases (eg. lower extremity orthopedic diseases, neurologic disorders, cardiovascular disease, heart failure, uncontrolled hypertension that affect walking capacity, efficiency, and endurance)
2. Severe visual impairment or dizziness that increases the risk of falls