Article

This study investigated the effects of repeated split-belt treadmill (SBT)
walking on gait ability in individuals poststroke. Twelve individuals with a
first unilateral cerebral stroke (10 males; mean age 53 (SD 8.74); mean time
poststroke 25 months (SD 23.5); 9 left-sided stroke) and initial step length (SL)
asymmetry (ratio = 1.10-2.05) volunteered for the study. They were trained by
physiotherapists from an outpatient rehabilitation center six times over 2-3
weeks using a SBT protocol. After only six sessions of training, all participants
reduced their SL asymmetry from an average ratio of 1.39 to 1.17 (p = 0.002) and
increased walking speed (p = 0.043). Improvements in symmetry and speed were
retained over 1 month (p </= 0.008). No effect was observed in participants'
endurance, assessed with the 6-min walk test. These findings suggest that the
present SBT protocol has potential to be an efficient intervention to improve not
only SL symmetry but also gait speed, in individuals poststroke.

Langue : ANGLAIS