Treadmill Oscillation Walking to Improve Weight Transfer During Gait Following Stroke
Neuromuscular and Biomechanical Control of Weight Transfer During Gait in Individuals Post-stroke
University of Texas at Austin
15 participants
Dec 15, 2022
INTERVENTIONAL
Conditions
Summary
This study aims to determine the immediate and short-term effects of treadmill oscillation walking (TOW) exercise on hip and knee neuromechanics and gait characteristics in individuals post-stroke. It was hypothesized that compared to baseline, individuals poststroke (N=15) will show increased hip abductor and knee extensor muscle activity and torque production, and increased limb loading and walking speeds during TOW and following a 6-week TOW intervention, reflecting that TOW can enhance gait function through improved hip and knee neuromechanical activation.
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria6
- Hemiparesis as a result of a stroke greater than 6 months previous to the study;
- A single cortical or subcortical stroke
- Able to walk 10 meters with or without a walking aid
- Able to stand unsupported for 5 minutes
- Sufficient cognitive function to follow instruction and communicate with the investigators.
- Reduced paretic limb loading more than 6% compared to the non-paretic limb during overground gait assessment
Exclusion Criteria13
- Medical condition precluding participant in regular exercise, such as acute cardiac or respiratory conditions limiting activity and other health conditions significantly impacting the ability to walk beyond the effects of the stroke, such as other neurological conditions or peripheral neuropathies;
- Bilateral stroke or a previous stroke in the contralateral hemisphere;
- Had a history of multiple strokes;
- Cerebellar stroke;
- Lower extremity joint replacement;
- Bone or joint problems that limited their ability to walk;
- A resting heart rate outside of the range of 40 to 100 beats per minute;
- A resting blood pressure outside of the range of 90/60 to 170/90 mm Hg;
- Neglect;
- Hemianopia;
- Unexplained dizziness during the past 6 months;
- Chest pain or shortness of breath without exertion;
- Pregnancy by self-report.
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Interventions
Each participant with stroke will partake in 18 training sessions. Training sessions will be for one hour three times a week for 6 weeks. During training, participants will walk at their self-selected walking speed on the treadmill that moves side-to-side for 1 cm in a sinusoidal pattern. The sinusoidal oscillation frequency will match each participant's natural stride frequency calculated from baseline evaluation. Subjects will be instructed to respond naturally and maintain continuous walking. Participants will wear a safety harness with no body weight support. For each training session, six 6-minute bouts of treadmill oscillation trials will be performed (Hsiao et al. 2016) and rest period will be provided between bouts. Because lower extremity muscle activity increases with increasing oscillation frequency, the treadmill oscillation frequency will be increased by 5% each week to continue to drive progressive adaptive changes (25% over 6 weeks) (Pohl et al. 2002).
Locations(1)
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NCT05541705