Change in Walking Parameters of Paralympic Athletes Diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy Using WALKBOT Training System at Recovery Stage of Rehabilitation

INTRODUCTION: The publication is devoted to studying the rehabilitative effect of the Walkbot innovative training system on restoring the walking function in Paralympic athletes diagnosed with cerebral palsy (CP). The novelty of the developed Walkbot robot-assisted training system (TS) and insufficient experience of its use in rehabilitation practice require investigations on contingents of patients with musculoskeletal disorders in CP to develop protocols and programs of the rehabilitation use of the Walkbot TS.

AIM: Study of effectiveness of rehabilitation use of the Walkbot robotic TS to restore the walking function in Paralympic athletes with spastic cerebral palsy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted at the Medical Rehabilitation Center ‘Sergievskie Mineral Waters’ in 2023. Forty Paralympic athletes (all men) aged 30-35 years were examined. The experimental group (EG) and control group (CG) included 20 Paralympic athletes each with standardization of the groups by the main parameters. The classes were conducted for 60 minutes according to the rehabilitation program. In the experimental group, besides exercise therapy (ET), the participants also exercised on the robotic Walkbot TS to restore the walking function, namely, they used Go world game with the known tasks symbolizing counties of the world, Go palace game that permits to take a walk around the palace, when patients move to the right or left as they choose; Go undersea game occurring against the background of a fairy sea world where they must go through the route controlling the direction of movement. The Paralympians of the control group used the standard rehabilitation program including ET with no training and gaming technologies.

RESULTS: The obtained results showed a pronounced improvement in the parameters of motor actions in Paralympians of the EG, while in the CG, positive rehabilitation changes were 2–3 times less expressed. At the initial and final rehabilitation stages, an increase of the tolerated duration of classes was recorded: by 5 times in the EG and 3 times in the CG, post-rehabilitation increase in the EG was 23.4% compared to that in CG. After training on the Walkbot TS, the volume of the performed load increased 5.9 times in the EG and 2.1 times in the CG. The increase in the EG made 64.5% compared to the CG, which indicated an increase in speed-strength qualities and endurance of para-athletes. At the end of rehabilitation, the amount of steps on the Walkbot TS in the EG increased 5.9 times (in the CG — 2.9 times), increase in the EG made 48.3% compared to the CG.

CONCLUSION: The experiment established a complex multisided positive effect of training sessions on the Walkbot TS in the EG versus the effect of only exercise therapy in the CG. The obtained data suggest that training on the Walkbot TS confer a significant restorative and normalizing effect on the neurophysiological mechanisms of functioning of the central parts of the motor cortex.