The Therapeutic Effects of Body Weight-Supported Treadmill Training on Childeren with Cerebral Palsy

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of body weight- supported treadmill training on gait pattern in children with cerebral palsy METHOD: Seventeen children with cerebral palsy were given with body weight-supported treadmill training. The gait training was offered on treadmill and they were trained five times a week, 20 minutes a session for three weeks. To evaluate the ambulatory function, we estimated the walking distance for one minute and gait analysis before and after the treatment. Gait analysis was done for 11 children with Vicon 370 computerized gait analyzer and linear parameters, kinematic and kinetic data were obtained. RESULTS: Walking distance for one minute increased from 6.74+/-6.16 m to 11.06+/-7.98 m. In linear parameters by gait analysis, gait speed (0.15+/-0.18 m/sec to 0.23+/-0.24 m/sec, p<0.05), cadence (53.0+/-26.3 steps/min to 65.9+/-35.7 steps/min, p<0.05), and stride length (0.30+/-0.17 meters to 0.35+/-0.18 meters, p<0.05) increased following body weight-supported treadmill training. Also, there was a significant difference in knee flexion during loading response. CONCLUSION: In rehabilitation of cerebral palsy, body weight- supported treadmill training improved gait pattern. So, we recommend this gait training method for children with cerebral palsy.