| Objective: To explore the characteristics of gait and surface electromyography (sEMG) of stroke patients walking on underwater treadmill training (UWTT). Methods: Gait and sEMG parameters of 20 stroke patients were synchronionously collected through three-dimensional gait analysis system and sEMG systems on land walking (LW) and UWTT. Results: When walking in easy self-exertion state, compared with LW, there were significant gait parameter reductions when patients walked on UWTT, including step frequency walking speed, step length of both affected lower extremity and affected step length, percentage of swing phase (SP%) of unaffected lower extremity and the absolute difference between lower extremities (ADLE) of step length (all P＜0.05). On the other hand, there was significant increase in gait cycle, no significant variance was found between unaffected SP% and of SP% ADLE. Meanwhile, integral electromyography (iEMG) of unaffected biceps femoris (BF), rectus femoris (RF) and tibialis anterior (TA) was significantly reduced in UWTT as compared with LW (all P＜0.05). The significant iEMG reduction was also shown on affected BF, RF, and TA (all P＜0.05).No significant difference was shown on neither unaffected lateral gastrocnemius (LGA) nor affected LGA . The iEMG difference between the bilateral lower extremities on BF, RF, TA and LGA was significantly edcreased in UWTT as compared with LW (all P＜0.05).Conclusion: There are noteworthy differences in gait and muscle contraction intensity for stroke patients between UWTT and LW. UWTT significantly reduces the load on both lower extremities and contributes to improving walking symmetry for stroke patients. |
