Kenji Kawakami

OBJECTIVE: To identify factors associated with earlier independence in "real-life walking" during hospitalization in subacute stroke patients. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SUBJECTS/PATIENTS: Two hundred and six hemiplegic patients. METHODS: Functional Independence Measure (FIM) walking items were measured biweekly from admission to discharge. Patients were grouped by achieving independent "real-life walking" (FIM-walking score ≥6). Time to independence, stratified by age, FIM motor score (FIM-M), FIM cognitive score (FIM-C), and Functional Ambulation Categories (FAC) scores were compared using Kaplan- Meier plots and log-rank tests. Hazard ratios were calculated via multivariable Cox proportional hazard models. RESULTS: The median time to independence was 4 weeks, with significant differences (p < 0.05) by age, FIM-M, FIM-C, and FAC stratification. Age ≤64 years (hazard ratio 1.92, 95% confidence interval 1.21-3.06), FIM-C ≥25 (hazard ratio 2.42, 95% confidence interval 1.52-3.86), and FAC ≥3 (hazard ratio 1.98, 95% confidence interval 1.22-3.21) significantly affected earlier walking independence (all p < 0.01). Impeding factors were FIM-M ≤38 (hazard ratio 0.23, 95% confidence interval 0.13-0.40; p < 0.01) and FAC = 0 (hazard ratio 0.184, 95% confidence interval 0.06-0.62; p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Early improvement in "real-life walking" was associated with younger age, greater cognitive function, and greater "test-setting walking" ability on admission. Low activities of daily living independence and "test-setting walking" ability hindered early progress.

BACKGROUND: The impact of different stroke types on specific activities of daily living (ADL) is unclear. OBJECTIVE: To investigate how differences between intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and cerebral infarction (CI) affect improvement of ADL in patients with stroke within a hospital by focusing on the sub-items of the Functional Independence Measure (FIM). METHODS: Patients with first-stroke hemiplegia (n = 212) were divided into two groups: ICH (86 patients) and CI (126 patients). Primary assessments included 13 motor and 5 cognitive sub-items of the FIM assessed at admission and discharge. Between-group comparisons and multiple regression analyses were performed. RESULTS: Upon admission, the ICH group exhibited significantly lower FIM scores than those of the CI group across various activities, including grooming, dressing (upper body and lower body), toileting, bed/chair transfer, toilet transfer, walking/wheelchair, and stairs. Age and FIM motor scores at admission influenced both groups' total FIM motor scores at discharge, whereas the duration from onset affected only the CI group. CONCLUSION: Several individual FIM motor items were more adversely affected by ICH than by CI. Factors related to ADL at discharge may differ depending on stroke type. Recognizing these differences is vital for efficient rehabilitation practices and outcome prediction.

Practicing walking in a safety suspension device allows patients to move freely and without excessive reliance on a therapist, which requires correcting errors and may facilitate motor learning. This opens the possibility that patients with subacute stroke may improve their walking ability more rapidly. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that overground gait training in a safety suspension device will result in achieving faster supervision-level walking than gait training without the suspension device. Twenty-seven patients with stroke admitted to the rehabilitation ward with functional ambulation categories (FAC) score of 2 at admission were randomly allocated to safety suspension-device group (SS group) or conventional assisted-gait training group (control group). In addition to regular physical therapy, each group underwent additional gait training for 60 min a day, 5 days a week for 4 weeks. We counted the days until reaching a FAC score of 3 and assessed the probability using Cox regression models. The median days required to reach a FAC score of 3 were 7 days for the SS group and 17.5 days for the control group, which was significantly different between the groups (P < 0.05). The SS group had a higher probability of reaching a FAC score of 3 after adjusting for age and admission motor impairment (hazard ratio = 3.61, 95% confidence interval = 1.40-9.33, P < 0.01). The gait training with a safety suspension device accelerates reaching the supervision-level walking during inpatient rehabilitation. We speculate that a safety suspension device facilitated learning by allowing errors to be experienced and correct in a safe environment.

OBJECTIVES: In stroke patients, the assessment of gait ability over time is important. For quantitative gait assessment using measuring devices, the walking speed condition for measurement is generally based on the patient's preferred walking speed or the maximum walking speed at the time of measurement. However, because walking speed often increases during the convalescent stage, understanding the effects of change in walking speed on gait when comparing the course of recovery is necessary. Although several previous studies have reported the effects of change in walking speed on gait in stroke patients, the time-distance parameters described in these reports may not be generalizable because of the small case numbers. Therefore, we measured treadmill gait at the preferred walking speed (PWS) and 1.3 times the PWS (130% PWS) in 43 post-stroke hemiplegic patients and analyzed the effects of change in walking speed on time-distance parameters. METHODS: Forty-three patients with hemiplegia after a first stroke, who were able to walk on a treadmill under supervision, were recruited as subjects. Using a three-dimensional motion analysis system, treadmill gait was assessed under two conditions: PWS and 130% PWS. The primary outcome measures were the time-distance parameters, which were compared between the PWS and 130% PWS conditions. RESULTS: Cadence, stride length, and step length of the affected and unaffected lower limbs increased significantly at 130% PWS compared with at PWS. In terms of actual time, single stance time and initial and terminal double stance time in both affected and unaffected limbs decreased significantly at 130% PWS. In terms of relative time (% of the gait cycle), compared with PWS, relative single stance time increased significantly, whereas relative initial and terminal double stance times decreased significantly at 130% PWS in both the affected and unaffected limbs. CONCLUSIONS: This study on treadmill gait in patients with hemiplegia after a first stroke confirmed the effects of change in walking speed on time-distance parameters. Our results will help in the interpretation of time-distance parameters measured under different walking speed conditions.