Short-burst interval treadmill training walking capacity and performance in cerebral palsy: a pilot study

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To examine the effect of short-burst interval locomotor treadmill training (SBLTT) on walking capacity and performance in cerebral palsy (CP). Methods: Twelve children with spastic diplegic CP (average 8.6 years) across Gross Motor Function Classification System levels II (8) and III (4) were randomized to 20 SBLTT sessions over 4 or 10 weeks. SBLTT consisted of alternating 30 seconds of slow and fast walking for 30 minutes/session. Outcomes included the 10 m walk test, one-minute walk test (1MWT), and timed-up-and go (TUG) (capacity) and StepWatch (performance) collected at baseline, post, and 6 weeks post. Results: Fast speed (+.11, p = .04; +.11 m/s, p = .006), 1MWT (+11.2; +11.7 m, p = .006) and TUG (−1.7; −1.9 seconds, p = .006) improved post SBLTT and 6 weeks, respectively. Walking performance increased: average strides/day (+948; +1712, p < .001) and percent time in high strides rates (+0.4, p = 0.07; +0.2, p = .008). Conclusions: Pilot study suggests SBLTT may improve short-term walking capacity and performance.

KEYWORDS:

• Locomotor training
• walking activity

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the children and families who participated in this study and Mark Wahlquist for treadmill transport.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no declarations of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health, NICHD R21 HD077186.