The effects of functional action-observation training on gait function in patients with post-stroke hemiparesis: A randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Functional action observation (FAO) is likely to activate the corticospinal tract and is likely to increase the potential ability of a functional task. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of FAO training on gait ability in patients with post-stroke hemiparesis. METHODS: Thirty-five patients with hemiparesis caused by stroke participated in this study. All subjects had suffered from stroke for more than 6 months. Subjects received either a FAO or a general action observation (GAO) training for 30 minutes each time, five times per week, for four weeks. The GAITRite was used to measure walking velocities and spatio-temporal variables. The functional gait assessment (FGA) was used to assess gait ability. The independent t-test was used to analyze whether there were significant differences of all dependent variables between groups. RESULTS: After four weeks of training, the step length, stride length, cadence, velocity, and FGA score in FAO group were statistically different from GAO group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that FAO is an effective and easy method for improvement of gait ability in chronic stroke patients.