Meyer-Heim A Borggraefe I Ammann-Reiffer C Berweck S Sennhauser FH Colombo G Knecht B Heinen F 2007 Intensive, task-specific training enabled by a driven gait orthosis (DGO) may be a cost-effective means of improving walking performance in children. A paediatric DGO has recently been developed. This study was the first paediatric trial aimed to determine the feasibility of robotic-assisted treadmill training in children with central gait impairment (n=26; 11 females, 15 males; mean age 10 y 1 mo [SD 4 y]; range 5 y 2 mo-19 y 5 mo). Diagnoses of the study group included cerebral palsy (n=19; Gross Motor Function Classification System Levels I-IV), traumatic brain injury (n=1), Guillain-Barré syndrome (n=2), incomplete paraplegia (n=2), and haemorrhagic shock (n=1), and encephalopathy (n=1). Sixteen children were in-patients and 10 were outpatients. Twenty-four of the 26 patients completed the training which consisted of a mean of 19 sessions (SD 2.2; range 13-21) in the in-patient group and 12 sessions (SD 1.0; range 10-13) in the outpatient group. Gait speed and 6-Minute Walking Test increased significantly (p<0.01). Functional Ambulation Categories and Standing dimension (in-patient group p<0.01; outpatient group p<0.05) of the Gross Motor Function Measure improved significantly. DGO training was successfully integrated into the rehabilitation programme and findings suggest an improvement of locomotor performance. https://sonar.ch/global/documents/104057 eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8749.2007.00900.x info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/18039236 Developmental medicine and child neurology. - 2007 Adolescent Adult Ambulatory Care Child Child, Preschool Cost-Benefit Analysis Feasibility Studies Female Gait Disorders, Neurologic Hospitalization Humans Locomotion Male Orthotic Devices Robotics Feasibility of robotic-assisted locomotor training in children with central gait impairment. http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501