Bagcilar Medical Bulletin (Dec 2022)

Clinical Practice Data of Robot-assisted Gait Therapy After Stroke: A Retrospective Study

  • İlknur Saral,
  • Esra Tekeci,
  • Yasemin Tuğçe Yayla,
  • Engin Çakar

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4274/BMB.galenos.2022.2022-06-055
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 4
pp. 319 – 325

Abstract

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Objective:Patients with stroke are often exposed to significant levels of disability resulting in long-term functional limitations. Robot-assisted gait therapy in stroke rehabilitation is a novel modality for improving walking ability and balance. In this retrospective study, we aimed to assess the outcomes of robot-assisted gait training (RAGT) in patients with stroke.Method:Forty-nine post-stroke patients (mean post-stroke duration 10.82±14.12 months; mean age 57.06±14.73 years; 34 males; 15 females), who underwent RAGT device plus therapeutic exercise (multiple robot-assisted therapy sessions; mean number of sessions 42.37±25.68), were included in this study. The patients’ pre- and post-therapy Brunnstrom lower extremity motor staging (Brunnstrom), functional ambulation scale (FAS), Ashworth spasticity scale (Ashworth), and Barthel index (BI) of activities of daily living scores were obtained from medical records and computerized database. Besides, speed and distance improvement were recorded for each patient by RAGT device.Results:Post-stroke patients experienced statistically significant gains in Brunnstrom, FAS, BI, RAGT device speed and distance outcomes when compared to baseline values (p<0.05). There was a moderate positive correlation between RAGT device speed improvement value and baseline Brunnstrom-FAS-BI values (r values=+0.408; +0.371; +0.367 respectively and p<0.05). Additionally, there was a moderate correlation between RAGT device speed improvement value and post-therapy Brunnstrom value (r=+0.353; p<0.05).Conclusion:Our study results suggest that robot-assisted gait therapy appears to be effective for facilitating returns including motor function, ambulation, and daily living skills in post-stroke patients. This study also demonstrates that the better the functional status of the patient at baseline, the better the improvement in walking speed with the RAGT device and the higher the success of the treatment. The authors think that correlation between post-stroke patients’ baseline values and output data by RAGT device is an important indicator for prognosis.

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