A Cochrane review [Abstract] 1 included 9 studies with a total of 499 subjects. The patients had had a stroke at least 6 months earlier. Overground gait training refers to physical therapists' observation and cueing of the patient's walking pattern along with related exercises, but does not include high-technology aids such as functional electrical stimulation or body weight support. There was no evidence for a benefit of the primary variable, post-test gait function (3 studies, 269 participants). Of secondary variables, immediately after training gait speed increased by 0.07 metres per second (95% CI 0.05 to 0.10; 7 studies, 396 participants), timed up-and-go (TUG) test improved by 1.81 seconds (95% CI -2.29 to -1.33), and six-minute-walk test (6MWT) increased by 26.1 metres (95% CI 7.14 to 44.97) (4 studies, 181 participants). At the 3-month follow up, no significant effects were evident among the secondary variables.
Comment: The quality of evidence is downgraded by inconsistency (heterogeneity in population and interventions) and imprecise results (few patients, wide confidence intervals).
Primary/Secondary Keywords