Effects of a lower limb walking exoskeleton on quality of life and activities of daily living in patients with complete spinal cord injury: A randomized controlled trial

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Hu, Xiaomin^{a; 1} | Lu, Jiachun^{b; 1} | Wang, Yunyun^{a; c; 1} | Pang, Rizhao^a | Liu, Jiancheng^a | Gou, Xiang^a | Bai, Xingang^a | Zhang, Anren^d | Cheng, Hong^e | Wang, Qian^f | Chang, Youjun^g | Yin, Jie^{a; c} | Chang, Cong^a | Xiao, Hua^{a; c} | Wang, Wenchun^{a; *}

Affiliations: [a] Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Western Theater General Hospital, Chengdu, China | [b] The Eighth People’s Hospital of Chengdu, Chengdu, Sichuan, China | [c] College of Medicine, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China | [d] Department of Rehabilitation, Shanghai Fourth People’s Hospital, Shanghai, China | [e] University of Electronic Science and Technology, Chengdu, Sichuan, China | [f] Chengdu Gulian Jinchen Rehabilitation Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan, China | [g] Sichuan Rehabilitation Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: Wenchun Wang, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Western Theater General Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan, China. E-mail: wwc1977biology@163.com.

Note: [1] These authors contributed equally to this work.

Abstract: BACKGROUND:In recent years, lower limb walking exoskeletons have been widely used in the study of spinal cord injury (SCI). OBJECTIVE:To explore the effect of a lower limb walking exoskeleton on quality of life and functional independence in patients with motor complete SCI. METHODS:This was a multi-center, single blind, randomized controlled trial. A total of 16 SCI patients were randomly assigned to either the exoskeleton-assisted walking (EAW) group (n= 8) or the conventional group (n= 8). Both groups received conventional rehabilitation training, including aerobic exercise and strength training. The EAW group additionally conducted the exoskeleton-assisted walking training using an AIDER powered robotic exoskeleton for 40–50 minutes, 5 times/week for 8 weeks. World Health Organization quality of life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) and the Spinal Cord Independence Measure III (SCIM-III) were used for assessment before and after training. RESULTS: There was an increasing tendency of scores in the psychological health, physical health, and social relationships domain of WHOQOL-BREF in the EAW group after the intervention compared with the pre-intervention period, but there was no significant difference (P> 0.05). SCIM-III scores increased in both groups compared to pre-training, with only the conventional group showing a significant difference after 8 weeks of training (P< 0.05). CONCLUSION: A lower limb walking exoskeleton may have potential benefits for quality of life and activities of daily living in patients with motor complete SCI.

Keywords: Exoskeleton, spinal cord injury, quality of life, activities of daily living

DOI: 10.3233/THC-220871

Journal: Technology and Health Care, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 243-253, 2024