Individualized treadmill and strength training for chronic stroke rehabilitation: effects of imbalance.
OBJECTIVE
Stroke survivors often have significant walking limitations and are at high risk for falling. Treadmill training, as a rehabilitation approach in stroke survivors, and its relationship to balance ability has not been widely studied. The main goal of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an individualized treadmill-strength training protocol on functional outcomes in chronic stroke survivors.


METHODS
Thirty adult participants with chronic stroke were recruited from 1 European and 4 Middle Eastern countries. Each completed 36 sessions of treadmill-strength training. The rehabilitation protocol was individualized according to each patient's cardiovascular fitness. Ten-meter walk test (10MWT), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), and 6-minute walk test (6MWT) were measured before (T0) and after training (T1) and 6 months later (T2). Paired t tests were used to test differences with training (T1 - T0) and retention after training (T2 - T1).


RESULTS
Increases in all 3 measures from T0 to T1 were significant. There were no changes in 10MWT and BBS from T1 to T2, but 6MWT tended to increase. Separate analyses for subjects with BBS scores <41 at T0 demonstrated comparatively greater improvements from T0 to T1 than in those with BBS scores ≯40. Those with low scores also significantly increased from T1 to T2 in both walk tests.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that a protocol combining treadmill with strength training has beneficial long-term effects on functional walking measures after chronic stroke, especially in patients who initially have low balance ability.
Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan.
Muhammed
M
Al-Jarrah
Department of Physiotherapy, Princess Basma Center for Disabled Children, East Jerusalem, Palestinian Authority.
Samira
S
Shaheen
Human Motion Analysis Laboratory, Assaf-Harofeh Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel.
Netta
N
Harries
Department of Neurology, CHU Mohamed VI, Marrakech, Morocco.
Najib
N
Kissani
Villa Beretta, Rehabilitation Center, Valduce Hospital, Como, Italy.
Franco
F
Molteni
Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
Simona
S
Bar Haim
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D020233:Gait Disorders, Neurologic / Q000209:etiology / Q000534:rehabilitation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D004856:Postural Balance; D055070:Resistance Training / Q000379:methods*; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016138:Walking
10MWT; 6MWT; Berg Balance Scale; chronic stroke; treadmill training