Oxygen consumption during treadmill walking with and without body weight support in patients with hemiparesis after stroke and in healthy subjects

Objective: To compare oxygen consumption during walking with body weight support (BWS) with oxygen consumption during unsupported treadmill walking. Design: Patient and reference group. Comparisons between two walking conditions within each group. Setting: Research laboratory of a university hospital. Participants: Nonrandom convenience sample of 9 hemiparetic and 9 healthy subjects, mean age of 56 and 57 years, respectively. Interventions: The subjects walked on a treadmill with 0% and 30% BWS at their self-selected and maximum walking speeds. The trials were performed twice. Main Outcome Measures: Ventilatory oxygen uptake (VO2) and heart rate were measured by computerized breath-by-breath analysis and electrocardiography. Results: VO2 was lower during walking with 30% BWS than during unsupported walking. At self-selected speed the Wilcoxon's signed rank p values were < .01 for both patients and reference group; at maximum velocity, p values were p < .02 for the patients and p < .05 for the reference group. Patients' heart rates were lower when they walked with 30% BWS than at 0% BWS, at both self-selected and maximum walking speeds (p < .05 and p < .02, respectively). Conclusions: The 30% body weight supported condition requires less oxygen consumption than full weight bearing. Treadmill training with BWS can be tolerated by patients with cardiovascular problems.