Loading...
Is the Active Pelvis Orthosis an efficient tool for overground gait training in Parkinson’s disease patients’ rehabilitation? A pilot study
Files
Dukundibambe_Aurore_77811600Sangwe_Marie-Ascension_92601100_2021-2022.pdf
UCLouvain restricted access - Adobe PDF
- 1.11 MB
Details
- Supervisors
- Faculty
- Degree label
- Abstract
- Background: Most of the available robot-assisted gait training devices do not enable patients’ rehabilitation in settings corresponding as closely as possible to conditions in which they evolve daily. The investigated active pelvis orthosis (APO) is wearable and therefore usable in any setting for overground or eventually stairs gait training. This study delved into the feasibility of the APO to improve overground gait efficiency of mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients. Methods: The study was in two phases. First, ten healthy elderly adults walked 15 minutes with the APO under four different conditions. Second, three PD subjects (with no other pathology affecting gait abilities) went through a four-week training protocol wearing the APO under two conditions, with three weekly sessions of eight minutes. T-test and F-test compared the effect of the conditions on the physiological cost index, stride duration, stride length, speed and hips range of motion. Results: For the healthy subjects, one APO-assisted walking condition demonstrated an increment of speed and stride length with a reduction of the stride duration while two others indicated an increase of the hips ROM. The PCI remained stable under all conditions. For the PD subjects, the APO assistance tended to increase speed, stride length and the PCI while the stride duration decreased. Conclusion: This study findings are encouraging in the APO’s ability for PD patients’ gait training even though further investigation is needed to confirm this study’s hypothesis.