The Effects of Progressive Velocity Robot-assisted Gait Training on Balance and Gait Abilities in Stroke Patients

Background: Stroke patients commonly suffer from balance impairments that limit functional activities, such as walking difficulties.Robot-assisted gait training is gaining attention as an effective rehabilitation strategy for balance and gait in stroke rehabilitation. Objects:The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of progressive velocity robot-assisted gait training (PRG) on balance and gait abilities in stroke patients.Methods: All subjects were randomly divided into three groups: PRG (n = 12); comfortable speed robot-assisted gait training (CRG) (n = 12); and control group (n = 16).Subjects in PRG and CRG underwent robot-assisted gait training for 30 minutes, three times a week for six weeks.And the control group performed overground gait training using a treadmill at the same frequency and for the same amount of time as the experimental group.All Subjects were assessed for muscle strength, balance, gait and motor function pre-and post-intervention. Results:The study results showed that all subjects showed significant differences in all measurements post-intervention (p < 0.05).Additionally, PRG was found to significantly improve in Medical Research Council (MRC) and Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) compared to CRG, and CRG showed significant differences compared to the control group in MRC, Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and Timed Up and Go test (TUG) (p < 0.05).PRG exhibited significant differences in all areas in the between-group comparison with the control group (p < 0.05). Conclusion:These results suggest that PRG may be effective strategy to improve balance and gait ability for with stroke.