Effect of an overground training session versus a treadmill training session on timed up and go in hemiparetic patients.

BACKGROUND: Timed Up and Go (TUG) performance is reduced following stroke. Gait training improves gait-related activities in hemiparetic patients. However, no study has compared the impact of a single overground training session with a treadmill training session on gait-related activities (assessed by TUG).

OBJECTIVE: To compare the immediate effect of a single overground training session versus a single treadmill training session on TUG performance in hemiparetic patients.

METHODS: In this randomized controlled clinical trial, 56 hemiparetic patients were randomized to 1 or 2 distinct groups: a single gait training session overground (O group) or on a treadmill (T group). Time taken to perform the TUG (in seconds) was assessed before and immediately after the completion of each session.

RESULTS: Time taken to perform the TUG decreased significantly, and to a similar extent, in both groups following the training session (O group, 5.9%; T group, 5.2%).

CONCLUSIONS: An overground training session and a treadmill training session were equally effective in improving TUG performance in hemiparetic patients. Hemiparetic patients should be encouraged to walk regularly overground including turns for 20 minutes without stopping. This is an easy and inexpensive self-rehabilitation method to improve functional gait-related activities involved in the TUG test.