Lower Body Positive Pressure Treadmill Training in Post-Stroke Gait Impairment

Lower Body Positive Pressure Treadmill Training in Post-Stroke Gait Impairment

Lower body positive pressure (LBPP) decreases weight bearing and ground reaction forces, with potentially positive effects on qualitative gait indices. However, which gait features are shaped by LBPP gait training in post-stroke patients is still poorly predictable. A pilot study on the effects of LBPP gait training on qualitative and quantitative gait indices in patients with hemiparesis due to stroke in the chronic phase was carried out. Twenty-five patients who suffered from a first, single, ischemic, supra-tentorial stroke occurred at least 6 months before study inclusion were provided with 24 daily sessions of LBPP treadmill gait training using AlterG device. These patients were compared with 25 age-matched healthy controls (HC), who were formerly provided with the same amount of AlterG training, and 25 patients with the same clinical-demographic characteristics of the first group of patients, who previously underwent conventional treadmill gait training (TGT). Qualitative and quantitative gait features, including Functional Ambulation Categories, gait cycle features, and muscle activation patterns were analyzed before and after the training (AlterG or TGT).

Inclusion Criteria:

• age ≥ 55 years;
• first, single, ischemic supra-tentorial stroke occurred at least 6 months before the study inclusion;
• a Functional Ambulatory Categories (FAC) score of >2;
• ability to control head and trunk posture;
• no systemic or cardiovascular contraindication to LBPP

Exclusion Criteria:

• Medical and/or psychiatric illness potentially interfering with the treatment.