earticle

영어

The purpose of this study was to determine whether 6 weeks of treadmill exercise training could improve aerobic capacity, balance, and gait in patients with chronic stroke. Eleven patients with chronic stroke were randomly assigned into either the experimental group (n=6) or control group (n=5). The experimental group performed treadmill exercise training, whereas the control group participated in general walking training for 6 weeks. Aerobic capacity was assessed by using the 6 Minute Walking Test (6MWT) and single-stage submaximal treadmill walk test. Balance was measured by the BT4 force platform system, Berg Balance scale (BBS), and the timed up-and-go test (TUG). Gait was measured by a 10-m walking test (10 mWT) and Modified Dynamic Gait Index (mDGI) before and after the intervention. The Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to analyze changes of all intra-group variables before and after intervention. The Mann-Whitney U test was used to analyze changes of all inter-group variables. The experimental group improved in the 6MWT, VO2 max, K-BBS, TUG, and 10 mWT after intervention (p<0.05). The control group improved in the 6MWT, VO2 max, TUG, and 10 mWT after intervention (p<0.05). The experimental group showed significantly greater changes in the 6MWT (p<0.05), VO2 max (p<0.01), K-BBS score (p<0.01), TUG (p<0.05), and 10 mWT (p<0.05) than the control group. The result of this study suggests that treadmill exercise training can be used as an intervention to improve aerobic capacity, balance, and gait in patients with chronic stroke.