Treadmill Walking With Partial Body Weight Support Versus Floor Walking in Hemiparetic Subjects

Abstract Objective: To compare the gait of hemiparetic subjects walking on a treadmill with various body weight supports and walking on the floor. Design: Hemiparetic subjects walked on a treadmill, secured in a harness, with no body weight support and with 15% and 30% body weight relief, and walked on a floor. Setting: Kinematic laboratory of a department of rehabilitation. Subjects: Eighteen hemiparetic stroke patients. Main Outcome Measures: Gait cycle parameters and kinesiologic electromyogram of six muscles of the affected side and of two muscles of the nonaffected side. Results: On the treadmill, patients walked more slowly because of a reduced cadence, with a longer single stance period of the paretic limb, more symmetrically, and with a larger hip extension (multivariate profile analysis, p p p Conclusions: Treadmill training with partial body weight support in hemiparetic subjects allows them to practice a favorable gait characterized by a greater stimulus for balance training because of the prolonged single stance period of the affected limb, a higher symmetry, less plantar flexor spasticity, and a more regular activation pattern of the shank muscles as compared with floor walking.