Changes in Gait After Training for Individuals With Cerebellar Ataxia

Objective: To investigate gait changes for individuals who performed either home aerobic or balance training. Design: Single-blind randomized clinical trial. Setting: Home training and outcome assessments at large, tertiary, urban hospital. Participants: Individuals with cerebellar ataxia (N=52). Interventions: Individuals in the aerobic group trained 30 minutes per session, 5 times per week at up to 85% predicted maximum heart rate. Individuals in the balance group (control) performed 30 minutes of balance exercises of varying difficulty 5 times per week. Participants in both groups were expected to train for 1 year. Main Outcome Measures: Gait parameters (step length, step variability, stride width, gait velocity) were determined at 0, 6, and 12 months. Results: <.001) compared to those who did not hit training goals. Step variability was not improved with either training. Conclusions: There was a minor improvement of increased step length in individuals with ataxia who performed home aerobic training compared to home balance training. However, individuals with ataxia who regularly performed either type of home training had statistically significant improvements in multiple gait parameters compared to those who did not train regularly.