Tollár József, Kóra Szilvia, Széphelyi Klaudia, Drotár István, Prukner Péter, Törő Blanka, Prontvai Nándor, Csutorás Bence, Haidegger Tamás, Hortobágyi Tibor
Somogy County Kaposi Mór Teaching Hospital, Kaposvár, Hungary; Doctoral School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary; Digital Development Center, Széchenyi István University, Győr, Hungary; János Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Science, Hungary; Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.
Doctoral School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.
Exp Gerontol. 2025 Oct 15;210:112882. doi: 10.1016/j.exger.2025.112882. Epub 2025 Sep 1.
Stroke incidence rises with age. A stroke can severely affect walking ability, requiring therapy. Robot-assisted walking therapy (ROB) has been advocated as one form of walking rehabilitation in stroke patients. However, its comparative efficacy remains controversial and three-group comparisons are scant. We compared the effects of ROB, walking training therapy without a robot (WTT) and standard treatment therapy (STT) on clinical and mobility outcomes in acute ischemic stroke patients.
Individuals (n = 45, 71 % males, age 64.4y ±6.34), who have recently experienced an ischemic stroke, were randomized to ROB, WTT or STT. Clinical and mobility outcomes were assessed before and after each intervention (3 weeks, 5 sessions/week) and after 5 weeks of no-intervention follow-up.
Outcomes did not differ between groups at baseline (p > 0.05). Modified Rankin Scale (primary outcome), improved (p < 0.05) after ROB and WTT vs. STT. These improvements were retained relative to baseline (p < 0.05) after follow-up. Barthel index, Berg Balance Scale, 10-m walking speed, the distance while walking with and without the robot for six minutes, and center pressure velocity in standing improved most after ROB (all p < 0.001), exceeding the changes after WTT which in turn were greater than the changes after STT (p ≤ 0.040).
Older adults shortly after an ischemic stroke can quickly learn to walk with a soft robot and retain substantial clinical and mobility improvements at follow-up.
中风发病率随年龄增长而上升。中风会严重影响行走能力，需要进行治疗。机器人辅助步行治疗（ROB）已被倡导作为中风患者步行康复的一种形式。然而，其相对疗效仍存在争议，且三组比较较少。我们比较了ROB、无机器人步行训练治疗（WTT）和标准治疗（STT）对急性缺血性中风患者临床和运动结果的影响。
将近期发生缺血性中风的个体（n = 45，71%为男性，年龄64.4岁±6.34）随机分为ROB组、WTT组或STT组。在每次干预前和干预后（3周，每周5次）以及5周无干预随访后评估临床和运动结果。
各组在基线时的结果无差异（p > 0.05）。改良Rankin量表（主要结果），与STT相比，ROB和WTT后有所改善（p < 0.05）。随访后相对于基线，这些改善得以保留（p < 0.05）。Barthel指数、Berg平衡量表、10米步行速度、有机器人和无机器人时6分钟步行的距离以及站立时中心压力速度在ROB后改善最为明显（均p < 0.001），超过了WTT后的变化，而WTT后的变化又大于STT后的变化（p≤0.040）。
缺血性中风后不久的老年人能够快速学会使用软机器人行走，并在随访中保持显著的临床和运动改善。
