Article

Spinal cord injury (SCI) results in impaired function, and ankle
joint spasticity is a common secondary complication. Different interventions have
been trialed with variable results. OBJECTIVE:
We investigated the effects of
pharmacological and physical (locomotor training) interventions on function in
people living with incomplete motor function loss caused by SCI and used
different analytical techniques to understand whether functional levels affect
recovery with different interventions. METHODS: Participants with an incomplete
SCI were assigned to 3 groups: no intervention, Lokomat, or tizanidine. Outcome
measures were the 10-m walk test, 6-minute walk test, and the Timed Up and Go.
Participants were classified in 2 ways: (1) based on achieving an improvement
above the minimally important difference (MID) and (2) using growth mixture
modeling (GMM). Functional levels of participants who achieved the MID were
compared and random coefficient regression (RCR) was used to assess recovery in
GMM classes. RESULTS: Overall, walking speed and endurance improved, with no
difference between interventions. Only a small number of participants achieved
the MID. Both MID and GMM-RCR analyses revealed that tizanidine improved
endurance in high-functioning participants. GMM-RCR classification also showed
that speed and mobility improved after locomotor training. CONCLUSIONS:
Improvements in function were achieved in a limited number of people with SCI.
Using the MID and GMM techniques, differences in responses to interventions
between high-and low-functioning participants could be identified. These
techniques may, therefore, have potential to be used for characterizing
therapeutic effects resulting from different interventions.
CI - (c) The Author(s) 2014.

Langue : ANGLAIS