Objectives: To compare body weight support treadmill training (BWSTT) to conventional overground gait training (COGT).
Design: Randomized controlled trial.
Setting: Residential rehabilitation center.
Participants: Twenty subjects with chronic traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Intervention: The BWSTT or COGT for 15 minutes plus 30 minutes of exercise 2 days per week, for 3 months.
Main outcome measures: Functional Ambulation Category (FAC), Functional Reach (FR), Timed Up and Go; gait velocity, step width (BOS) and step length differential using instrumented gait mat.
Results: Step width approached the norm without between-group differences. Step length differential improved significantly more for the COGT.
Conclusions: Physical therapy can improve gait for patients more than 6 years post-TBI. The COGT is more effective than the BWSTT for improving gait symmetry during overground walking.