Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33115480›Full record

Trial reportJournal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation2020

Effects of selectively assisting impaired subtasks of walking in chronic stroke survivors.

Simone S Fricke, Hilde J G Smits, Cristina Bayón, Jaap H Buurke, Herman van der Kooij, Edwin H F van Asseldonk

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of neuroengineering and rehabilitation, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Simone S FrickeDepartment of Biomechanical Engineering, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands. s.s.fricke@utwente.nl.ORCID 0000-0002-1285-2572
Hilde J G SmitsDepartment of Biomechanical Engineering, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands.
Cristina BayónDepartment of Biomechanical Engineering, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands.
Jaap H BuurkeRoessingh Research and Development, Enschede, The Netherlands.
Herman van der KooijDepartment of Biomechanical Engineering, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands.
Edwin H F van AsseldonkDepartment of Biomechanical Engineering, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundRecently developed controllers for robot-assisted gait training allow for the adjustment of assistance for specific subtasks (i.e. specific joints and intervals of the gait cycle that are related to common impairments after stroke). However, not much is known about possible interactions between subtasks and a better understanding of this can help to optimize (manual or automatic) assistance tuning in the future. In this study, we assessed the effect of separately assisting three commonly impaired subtasks after stroke: foot clearance (FC, knee flexion/extension during swing), stability during stance (SS, knee flexion/extension during stance) and weight shift (WS, lateral pelvis movement). For each of the assisted subtasks, we determined the influence on the performance of the respective subtask, and possible effects on other subtasks of walking and spatiotemporal gait parameters.

methodsThe robotic assistance for the FC, SS and WS subtasks was assessed in nine mildly impaired chronic stroke survivors while walking in the LOPES II gait trainer. Seven trials were performed for each participant in a randomized order: six trials in which either 20% or 80% of assistance was provided for each of the selected subtasks, and one baseline trial where the participant did not receive subtask-specific assistance. The influence of the assistance on performances (errors compared to reference trajectories) for the assisted subtasks and other subtasks of walking as well as spatiotemporal parameters (step length, width and height, swing and stance time) was analyzed.

resultsPerformances for the impaired subtasks (FC, SS and WS) improved significantly when assistance was applied for the respective subtask. Although WS performance improved when assisting this subtask, participants were not shifting their weight well towards the paretic leg. On a group level, not many effects on other subtasks and spatiotemporal parameters were found. Still, performance for the leading limb angle subtask improved significantly resulting in a larger step length when applying FC assistance.

conclusionFC and SS assistance leads to clear improvements in performance for the respective subtask, while our WS assistance needs further improvement. As effects of the assistance were mainly confined to the assisted subtasks, tuning of FC, SS and WS can be done simultaneously. Our findings suggest that there may be no need for specific, time-intensive tuning protocols (e.g. tuning subtasks after each other) in mildly impaired stroke survivors.

Indexed as

Exoskeleton DeviceAdultFemaleGait Disorders, NeurologicHumansMaleMiddle AgedRoboticsStroke RehabilitationSurvivorsWalkingAssist-as-neededGaitRehabilitationRobotic gait trainingStrokeSubtask-based assistance

Identifiers

PMID33115480
PMCPMC7592375

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.