Effects Of A Dynamic Walking Device On Walking Function In Stroke Patients

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a new walking device— Kickstart Walk Assist system on walking ability in stroke patients with hemiplegia;to explore the changes of walking posture of stroke patients with hemiplegia by Kickstart Walk Assist system.Methods: A total of 30 stroke inpatients from Shanghai Yangzhi Rehabilitation Hospital(Shanghai Sunshine Rehabilitation Center)were randomly divided into experimental group(n = 15)and control group(n = 15).Both groups received clinical drug treatment and conventional rehabilitation treatment.The experimental group received walking training with Kickstart Walk Assist system,the control group received conventional walking training(without any assistive devices).Both groups trained for daily accumulated walking more than 1 hour,5 days per week for 4 weeks.All patients were assessed including the timed “up and go” test(TUG),the 10-meter walking test(10MWT),the 6-minute walking test(6MWT),the gait Spatio-temporal parameters(collected by 8-camera Vicon infrared motion capture system)before and after the 4-week intervention.The data of normal distribution were statistically analyzed by Student’s test and the data of non-normal distribution were statistically analyzed by Nonparametric tests.Results:Before and after the intervention,TUG and 6WMT of both groups had a significant statistic difference(p <0.01),10 MWT showed statistically significant difference in the experimental group(p <0.01)and in the control group(p <0.05).As for difference between the experimental and the control group,there were significant statistic differences in TUG and 6WMT(p <0.05)but no statistically significant difference were found in 10 MWT..Before and after the intervention,stride speed,the affected side’s stance phase percentage,double limb stance percentage,step length asymmetry,stride,the contralateral step and stride width showed statistically significant difference in the experimental group(p <0.05);gait circle,cadence,the affected side’s swing phase percentage,the affected step,single stance asymmetry had no significant statistic difference(p > 0.05).All of the temporal parameters in the control group had no significant statistic difference(p > 0.05).Before and after the intervention,ankle sagittal plane ROM showed statistically significant difference(p <0.01)in the experimental group.As for difference between two groups,ankle sagittal plane ROM and hip frontal plane ROM had significant difference(p<0.05).Conclusion: Compared with conventional walking training,the Kickstart walking assistance system can better improve postural control and speed of walking,so it has a positive effect on the walking ability in stroke patients.