Relative Therapeutic Efficacy of the Treadmill and Step Bench in Gait Rehabilitation of Hemiparetic Stroke Patients

The aim of this research is to compare the efficacy of treadmill and step bench exercises in hemiparetic gait rehabilitation. Previous studies have supported the use of treadmill and step bench exercises in gait rehabilitation. Nineteen patients were recruited for an 8-week, 2-group quasi-experimental study which was conducted at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital. The patients were randomly distributed into 2 groups: A (step bench exercise) and B (treadmill). Groups A and B had 9 and 10 participants respectively. The mean age of the participants in group A was 47.78 + 8.17 years, while that of participants in group B was 46.9 + 7.11 years. Data collected on cadence, stride length, stride width, step length, stride velocity and foot angle before treatment at the 4th and 8th weeks of treatment were analysed using inferential statistics. There was a significant difference (p < 0.05) in the pre-treatment and post-treatment scores in both groups. Comparison of the post-treatment mean scores of the 2 groups was made and the t-values for cadence, stride length, step length, stride width, stride velocity and foot angle were 1.18, -0.91,-0.86, 0.78,1.19 and 0.01, respectively, after analysis was carried out using the unpaired t test. The results showed no significant difference in the mean scores of the measured gait parameters for the groups (p>0.05). It was concluded that hemiparetic stroke patients will benefit from both rehabilitation protocols, and that neither rehabilitation protocol is superior to the other.