A Comparison of Two Intensive Walking Training Interventions in Community Dwelling Individuals With History of Stroke

Summary

Stroke is a major cause of disability in Canadian adults. Following a stroke, many people have difficulty walking in their home and in the community. The purpose of this study is to compare the effect of two different approaches to walking retraining in people who have had a stroke.

Individuals living in the community who have had recently had a stroke will be asked to participate in this study. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two five week walking training programs. In one program, individuals will re-learn to walk in a variety of real-life situations. Practice sessions will encourage active problem solving by the participants. The other program will have participants practice walking on a treadmill while some of their body weight is supported by a special harness system. Participants will also be assisted by a physiotherapist to walk in a more normal manner.

Participants' will be assessed at the beginning of the study, after the 5 week training program and again, eight weeks later. The research assistant will assess their ability to walk, their confidence level and the average daily walking activity.

Primary Hypothesis: Individuals assigned to the Motor Learning Walking Program will improve their walking ability from baseline to follow up assessment significantly more than individuals assigned to the Treadmill Training Program.

The results of this study will help physiotherapists plan effective treatment programs for individuals with walking difficulties following stroke. It will also give researchers direction for future studies in the areas of walking retraining and motor skill development post-stroke.

Conditions

• Stroke

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Motor Learning Walking Program

Motor Learning principles based Walking Program (MLWP) Participants practice variety of real life over ground walking related activities. Order of practice, instructions, guidance and feedback are provided in a manner that facilitates cognitive engagement of learner. Sessions 45 minutes, 3x per week over 5 weeks for a total of 15 sessions

BEHAVIORAL

Body Weight Supported Treadmill Training

Participants practice walking on a treadmill while supported with an overhead harness system. Up to 40% body weight support. Target Treadmill speed 2.0 mph. 1 or 2 Trainers (at least one Physical Therapist plus another Physical Therapist or Physiotherapy Assistant) will help guide participants leg, foot and trunk during treatment. Aim is to practice high numbers of repetition of the normal gait cycle on treadmill. Duration of sessions - 20 minutes of treadmill training within a 45 minute session ( 4 sets of 5 minutes of training with 5 minute rests). 3 sessions per week for 5 weeks. Total of 15 sessions.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• McMaster University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Vincent G DePaul, PhD (c) · McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

40 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2006-12-31

Primary Completion

2011-01-31

Completion

2011-06-30

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations