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Introduction/Background Recently, the robot-assisted rehabilitation has emerged as a promising new technology for patients with severe lower limb impairment The effect of rehabilitation including the concepts of repetitive, intensive, task-orientated training, which has been shown to be effective for chronic stroke patients, may be facilitated by using robotics in improving physical functions of patients The aim of the present study is to investigate whether gait training using a robot suit HAL ® (Hybrid Assistive Limb: an exoskeleton robot that enhances the limb motion of the human body by detecting the weak bioelectrical nerve signals) would improve gait functions in chronic stroke patients. Material and method Fourteen patients with chronic stroke in Kyoto University Hospital were participated in the study They received 8 gait training sessions (60 min/session) using HAL® of double leg type during 3 weeks Before and after intervention, gait speed (m/s), stride length (m), cadence (step/min), and 2-minute walk distance (m) were measured Paired t test was used to determine the differences in outcome measurements between before and after intervention Spearman's rank correlated coefficients were calculated between change percentage of gait speed and change percentage of gait parameter (stride length or cadence). Results Gait speed (0.56 ± 0.32 → 0.71 ± 0.41 m/s), stride length (0.72 ± 0.32 → 0.82 ± 0.35 m), cadence (90.0 ± 29.4 → 98.7 ± 33.2 step/min), and 2-minute walk distance (62.2 ± 34.7 → 77.9 ± 45.2 m) increased significantly after the intervention The change percentage of gait speed was significantly correlated with the change percentage of stride length ( r = 0.75), but not with cadence. Conclusion The results of the present study demonstrated that gait training using HAL ® was an effective intervention, especially in improving spatiotemporal gait parameters and gait distance in chronic stroke patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction/Background Cognitive impairment is among the most frequent non-motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD). To clear the characteristics of cognitive impairment in patient with PD may be critical for the planning of effective rehabilitation interventions. However, a few studies have sought to investigate relationship between cognitive impairment and motor functions. The purpose of this study was to compare cognitive impairment of PD patients in relation to the motor impairment severity according to Hoehn and Yahr (HY) stages. Material and method The subjects of this study were 78 patients with PD (33 males and 45 females). The Cognitive function was assessed using the Wechsler Adult Intelligent Scale-III (WAIS-III) and Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R). The HY scale was used to evaluate the motor impairment severity as I (no disability, n = 11), II (mild, n = 34), III (moderate, n = 26), or IV–V (severe, n = 7). The Kruskal–Wallis test was used to compare the cognitive impairment the between HY groups. Results The difference in performance intelligence quotient (PIQ) of WAIS-III (I: 105.6 ± 8.6, II: 94.9 ± 17.7, III: 91.5 ± 14.3, IV–V: 82.9 ± 8.2) and general memory quotient (GMQ) of WMS-R (I: 105.5 ± 14.4, II: 91.8 ± 15.6, III: 90.0 ± 18.2, IV–V: 86.1 ± 13.0) between groups were significant, scores of IV-V stage were lowest. There were statistically significant differences in processing speed index and verbal memory quotient among the groups. The difference in other measurements was not significant the between groups. Conclusion Our present findings indicated that the cognitive impairment was observed in deterioration of the motor impairment in PD patients. Specifically, in the factor scale level, the low processing speed index and the low verbal memory quotient reduced each of the PIQ and GMQ in the lowest HY group patients. Therefore, we suggest that a careful assessment of cognitive impairments, especially processing speed and verbal memory, is important in identifying appropriate interventions for PD with severe stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]