Comparison of Gait Performance of Spinal Cord Injury Subjects: Body Weight Supported Treadmill Training Versus Over Ground Gait Training

Background and purposeBody weight supported treadmill training (BWSTT) has been used to improve gait, however its effects on gait performance of ambulatory motor-incomplete spinal cord injury subjects has not been compared with that of over ground gait training (OGT). The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of BWSTT to the efficacy of OGT on the gait performance of motor incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) subjects.Study designAn experimental design (pre-test and post-test) was used in this study.Subjects30 traumatic, motor-incomplete spinal cord injury subjects (ASIA – C, D), age 20-50 years with at least 6 months post injury duration and ability to ambulate at least 10 meters took part in this study.MethodsAll subjects were randomly allocated to two groups and daily 1 hour of gait training, 5 days a week for 4 weeks was given. Group-1 (n=15) received 10 minutes of stretching, 30 minutes of BWSTT and 20 minutes of OGT whereas Group-2 (n=15) received 10 minutes of stretching and 50 minutes of OGT. Outcome measures were speed, cadence, normalized step length, normalized stride length, step symmetry, WISCI-II scale.ResultsGait performance of all subjects improved with gait training, however the effect of BWSTT was more than that of OGT.Conclusion and discussionBWSTT is more effective than OGT in improving gait performance of motor incomplete SCI subjects.