Effects of trunk rotation induced treadmill gait training on gait of stroke patients: a randomized controlled trial

[Purpose] This study was conducted to find out the effect of arm swing during treadmill training on the gait of stroke patients. [Subjects and Methods] This study subjects were 20 stroke subjects patients who were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (EG) or the control group (CG), 10 subjects in each group. Therapists induced arm swing of affected side of EG subjects using Nordic poles, while subjects in CG had the affected arm restricted to prevent arm swing. Training was performed for 30 minutes, 3 times a week for 4 weeks. The timed up and go test (TUG), the dynamic gait index (DGI) and the 6-minute walk test (6MWT) were assessed before and after the training. [Results] After the training, there were no significant differences in the TUG times of EG and CG. There were significant differences in the DGI and the 6-minute walking distance of EG, but not of CG. There were also significant differences in the improvements of the DGI and the 6-minute walking distance between the groups. [Conclusion] Arm swing training had a positive effect on patients’ gait ability. Further studies are required to generalize the results of this study.