The following is a summary of the article “Effect of overground gait training with ‘Mobility Assisted Robotic System-MARS’ on gait parameters in patients with stroke: a pre-post study,” published in the August 2023 issue of Neurology by Gupta et al.

Researchers conducted a prospective study investigating the impact of Mobility Assisted Robotic System (MARS) overground gait training on stroke patients’ gait parameters.

They conducted a study of 29 adult stroke patients aged < 65 years at a tertiary teaching research hospital. The patients meeting inclusion criteria were categorized into sub-acute (≤6 months post-stroke) and chronic (>6 months post-stroke) groups. They underwent overground gait training using the MARS for 12 sessions (1 hour each) over 2–3 weeks. The primary outcome measures, which included the 10-Meter walk test (10MWT), 6-minute walk test (6MWT), and Timed Up & Go (TUG) test, along with secondary measures such as Functional Ambulation Category (FAC), Modified Rankin Scale (MRS), and Scandinavian Stroke Scale (SSS), were evaluated.

The results showed no adverse event. About 25 eligible patients, of which 12 in sub-acute and 13 in chronic stroke groups were included, performed the 10-MWT initially. All outcome measures exhibited gait parameter improvement after training (P< 0.05), except for the 10MWT in the sub-acute stroke group (P=0.255). After training, the chronic stroke group demonstrated a significant difference in the minimum clinically important difference (MCID) for endurance (6MWT). Both groups exhibited improved ‘minimal detectable change’ (MDC) in balance (TUG) post-training.

They concluded MARS Robot overground gait training significantly improved walking speed, endurance, balance, and independence.

Source: bmcneurol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12883-023-03357-6