Relationship between stride length and walking rate in gait training for hemiparetic stroke patients

Sixty-three male hemiparetic patients in the recovery stage were examined to investigate the relationship between stride length and walking rate during computer-assisted gait training during a period of 4 wk. The maximum walking speed for 10 m was significantly increased from 32.3 to 53.2 m/min on average, and the stride length and walking rate also increased. However, the ratio of stride length to walking rate did not change significantly in 4 wk, with the mean value being 0.0068 m/steps/min, approximately one-half that of healthy adults based on data from previous reports. The ratio of stride length to walking rate for hemiplegic gait was invariant during the 4 wk of computer-assisted gait training, which is also true at different speeds for healthy adults. These results indicate that the maximum walking speed was significantly improved, with an invariant relationship between stride length and walking rate, and suggest that the ratio could be used as an index for gait training.