Hiroki Tanikawa, RPT, DMSc, Satoshi Hirano, MD, DMSc, Shigeo Tanabe, RPT, PhD, Ikuko Fuse, MD, Kei Ohtsuka, RPT, DMSc, Masahiko Mukaino, MD, DMSc,
Ieyasu Watanabe, RPT, Daisuke Katoh, RPT, Akihito Uno, PO, Hitoshi Kagaya, MD, DMSc, Eiichi Saitoh, MD, DMSc
Jpn J Compr Rehabil Sci 10: 21-28, 2019
Objective: To clarify the influence of using a handrail
during treadmill gait and to verify the effectiveness of
a gait training cane developed in this study.
Methods: A cane for treadmill gait training was
developed by fixing to a steel base a multipoint cane
having a structure that moves back and forth and right
and left. Five hemiplegic patients were required to
walk on a treadmill without using the handrail, with
using the developed cane, and with using the handrail,
and their gait was compared using a three-dimensional
motion analysis system.
Results: Both the step length and affected-side singlestance
phase duration were significantly longer in the
gait without the handrail compared to that with the
developed cane and with the handrail. No significant
differences were observed in the quantitative degree of
abnormal gait patterns, but there was a tendency to
increase in the same order.
Conclusions: Using a handrail assists the affected-side
lower-limb stance and swing and might make it easier
to employ compensatory movements. This study shows
that using the developed cane during treadmill gait
could be a possible training task, in which the difficulty
level is between gait training with a handrail and without
a handrail.
Key words: hemiplegia, treadmill, handrail, cane, motor learning