Efeitos do treino em esteira com ou sem suporte de peso em variáveis relacionadas à marcha de indivíduos hemiplégicos: revisão de literatura

Abstract

Introduction: Stroke is one of the leading causes of impairments and disability. Impairments presented after stroke usually influence negatively the gait pattern and the return to independent walking emerges as the main goal for most of these patients. A new approach designed to improve gait after stroke is the treatment conducted using treadmill training with or without partial body weight support. Objectives: To review the literature regarding the efficacy of the treadmill training with or without body weight support on outcomes related to the hemiplegic gait. Method: The scientific databases Scielo and Pedro were consulted and the articles were selected according to the following inclusion criteria: 1 - Study design: randomized clinical trial, 2 - Population: adults affected by stroke, presenting unilateral hemiparesis, 3- Intervention: treadmill training with or without partial body weight support, and 4 - control group with no intervention or other intervention; 5 - outcome related to gait. Results: The initial search found 44 RCTs and 15 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The mean of their methodological quality was 6.4 according to the PEDro scale. There was considerable variation between the studies regarding the measurement instruments used and the outcomes evaluated. Conclusion: It was demonstrated that the experimental group usually had significantly better results than those presented by the control group on the variables related to gait. The treadmill training with or without weight support is a feasible and safe option to improve gait characteristics of acute or chronic hemiplegic individuals.