The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA.
Gait Posture. 2009 Nov;30(4):436-40. doi: 10.1016/j.gaitpost.2009.06.016. Epub 2009 Aug 3.
Injury to the central nervous system often results in impairments that negatively affect walking function. Prior evidence suggests that vibration may improve walking function. The purpose of this study was to determine whether repeated use of whole-body vibration (WBV) is associated with improvements in walking function in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). Subjects were 17 individuals with chronic (> or = 1 year), motor-incomplete SCI. Subjects were tested before and after participation in a 12-session (3 days/week for 4 weeks) intervention of WBV. We assessed change in walking function via 3D motion capture, with walking speed as the primary outcome measure. We also assessed the influence of the WBV intervention on secondary gait characteristics, including cadence, step length, and hip-knee intralimb coordination. Walking speed increased by a mean of 0.062+/-0.011 m/s, a change that was statistically significant (p<0.001). The WBV intervention was also associated with statistically significant increases in cadence, and both the stronger and weaker legs exhibited increased step length and improved consistency of intralimb coordination. Changes in cadence and step length of the stronger leg were strongly correlated with improvements in walking speed. The improvement in walking speed observed with the WBV intervention was comparable to that reported in the literature in association with locomotor training. This magnitude of change has been identified as being clinically meaningful, even in non-clinical populations. These findings suggest WBV may be useful to improve walking function with effects that may persist for some time following the intervention.
中枢神经系统损伤常导致步行功能受损。先前的证据表明，振动可能改善步行功能。本研究旨在确定全身振动（WBV）的重复使用是否与脊髓损伤（SCI）患者的步行功能改善有关。受试者为 17 名慢性（>1 年）、运动不完全 SCI 患者。在参加为期 4 周（每周 3 天，共 12 次）的 WBV 干预后，对受试者进行了测试。我们通过 3D 运动捕捉评估了步行功能的变化，以步行速度作为主要的测量指标。我们还评估了 WBV 干预对次要步态特征的影响，包括步频、步长和髋膝肢体协调。步行速度平均增加了 0.062+/-0.011 m/s，这一变化具有统计学意义（p<0.001）。WBV 干预还与步频的统计学显著增加有关，并且强壮腿和较弱腿的步长都有所增加，肢体协调的一致性也有所提高。强壮腿的步频和步长的变化与步行速度的提高密切相关。与运动训练相关的文献中报道的步行速度的改善与 WBV 干预观察到的改善相当。这种变化幅度被认为具有临床意义，即使在非临床人群中也是如此。这些发现表明，WBV 可能有助于改善步行功能，并且这种效果可能会在干预后持续一段时间。
