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(Stroke. 2008;39:1929.)
© 2008 American Heart Association, Inc.

Cochrane Corner

Electromechanical-Assisted Gait Training With Physiotherapy May Improve Walking After Stroke

Jan Mehrholz, DrPH; Cordula Werner, PhD; Joachim Kugler, MD Marcus Pohl, MD

From the Department of Rehabilitation (M.P., J.M.), Klinik Bavaria Kreischa; Department of Public Health (J.K., J.M.), Faculty of Medicine TU Dresden; Department of Neurology, Klinik Berlin (C.W.), Germany.

Correspondence to Jan Mehrholz, Klinik Bavaria Kreischa An der Wolfsschlucht 1-2, Kreischa 01731, Germany. E-mail jan.mehrholz@klinik-bavaria.de

Graeme J. Hankey MD, FRCP Section Editor:

Key Words: gait • rehabilitation • stroke • training

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

	Introduction

 
Many patients after stroke have difficulties with walking, and improving walking is one of the main goals of rehabilitation. Electromechanical and robotic-assisted gait training devices are used in rehabilitation and might help to restore walking after stroke.

	Objectives

 
This systematic review examined the effectiveness of automated electromechanical and robotic-assisted gait training devices for improving walking after stroke.

	Methods

 
We searched the Cochrane Stroke Group Trials Register (last searched September 2006), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library, Issue 3, 2006), MEDLINE (1966 to September 2006), EMBASE (1980 to September 2006), CINAHL (1982 to October 2006), AMED (1985 to October 2006), SPORTDiscus (1949 to August 2006), the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro, searched September 2006) and the engineering databases COMPENDEX (1972 to October 2006), and INSPEC (1969 to October 2006). We manually searched relevant conference proceedings, searched trials and research registers, checked reference lists, and contacted authors in an effort to identify further published, unpublished, and ongoing trials. Two review authors independently selected trials for inclusion assessed trial quality and extracted the data. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients walking independently (without assistance or help of a person) at follow-up. To minimize bias we included only randomized controlled trials.

	Results

 
We included 8 randomized controlled trials with 414 participants. Electromechanical-assisted gait training in combination with physiotherapy increased the odds of becoming independent in walking (Figure; OR, 3.06; 95% CI, 1.85 to 5.06; P<0.001) and increased walking capacity (mean difference=34 meters walked in 6 minutes; 95% CI, . . . [Full Text of this Article]