Influence of a Locomotor Training Approach on Walking Speed and Distance in People with Chronic Spinal Cord Injury: a Randomized Clinical Trial

Background: Impaired walking limits function after spinal cord injury (SCI), but training-related improvements are possible even in people with chronic motor incomplete SCI.

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare changes in walking speed and distance associated with 4 locomotor training approaches.

Design: This study was a single-blind, randomized clinical trial.

Setting: This study was conducted in a rehabilitation research laboratory.

Participants: Participants were people with minimal walking function due to chronic SCI.

Intervention: Participants (n=74) trained 5 days per week for 12 weeks with the following approaches: treadmill-based training with manual assistance (TM), treadmill-based training with stimulation (TS), overground training with stimulation (OG), and treadmill-based training with robotic assistance (LR).

Measurements: Overground walking speed and distance were the primary outcome measures.

Results: In participants who completed the training (n=64), there were overall effects for speed (effect size index [d]=0.33) and distance (d=0.35). For speed, there were no significant between-group differences; however, distance gains were greatest with OG. Effect sizes for speed and distance were largest with OG (d=0.43 and d=0.40, respectively). Effect sizes for speed were the same for TM and TS (d=0.28); there was no effect for LR. The effect size for distance was greater with TS (d=0.16) than with TM or LR, for which there was no effect. Ten participants who improved with training were retested at least 6 months after training; walking speed at this time was slower than that at the conclusion of training but remained faster than before training.

Limitations: It is unknown whether the training dosage and the emphasis on training speed were optimal. Robotic training that requires active participation would likely yield different results.

Conclusions: In people with chronic motor incomplete SCI, walking speed improved with both overground training and treadmill-based training; however, walking distance improved to a greater extent with overground training.