Overground Robot-Assisted Gait Training With a Wearable Exoskeleton in Children With Cerebral Palsy: A Multicenter Randomized Trial

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants who work with children who have cerebral palsy, in outpatient, school-based, inpatient rehabilitation, or early intervention settings, along with clinicians who are asked about robotic gait devices by families and referral sources.

Physical therapists and physical therapist assistants. Content is also relevant to rehabilitation managers and clinical educators reviewing pediatric robotic gait technology. Physical therapist assistants work under the direction of a physical therapist, who retains evaluation, diagnosis, and plan-of-care decisions.

Intended audience

Physical Therapy

Level

Intermediate

Delivery format

Online, asynchronous, self-paced course: interactive reading with audio or video, and a scored post-test.

Based on

Choi JY, Kim SK, Hong J, Park H, Yang SS, Park D, Song MK. Overground Gait Training With a Wearable Robot in Children With Cerebral Palsy: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(7):e2422625. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.22625. PMID: 39037815; PMCID: PMC11265136. Trial registration: CRIS identifier KCT0006273.

All findings, figures, and conclusions in this course come from that single trial report. Where the authors described their own recommendations or cautions, the course attributes them to the authors rather than restating them as practice direction.

After completing this course, you will be able to:

1. Describe who was enrolled in this multicenter trial, the wearable robot intervention, and the conventional physical therapy comparison the researchers used.
2. State what the trial reported for gross motor function, balance control, gait pattern, walking endurance, and safety at the end of the six-week program and at the four-week follow-up.
3. Explain the limits the authors named and how they framed the place of a torque-assisted wearable robot alongside standard pediatric rehabilitation.

1. Start Here: How This Course Works
2. Podcast: What the Wearable-Robot Gait Trial Found in Children With Cerebral Palsy (about nine minutes)
3. Cerebral Palsy, Walking, and Why the Authors Tested a Wearable Robot
4. How the Trial Was Run: Sites, Randomization, Sessions, and Measures
5. What Changed: Gross Motor Function, Balance, and Gait Pattern
6. Where the Trial Stops: Limits the Authors Named
7. Reading the Findings Into Pediatric Practice
8. Key Takeaways
9. Post-Test and Course Evaluation

Quinn Millington, PT, DPT, ECS is the instructor of record: the licensed clinician who reviewed this course and signed off on it. The name and credentials print on the certificate.

Disclosures. This course was developed by The ConEd Solution, which has a financial interest in its sale. No outside funding or sponsorship was received. The instructor of record has no affiliation with the authors of the source publication or their institutions.

This course awards 0.5 contact hours (30 min). How you earn them:

1. Complete the course. Every lesson, in order.
2. Pass the post-test. Score 80% or higher. Retakes are allowed.
3. Complete the evaluation. A short form rating each learning objective and the course.
4. Download your certificate. It is issued on completion and stays available in My Account.

The episode time is its measured length. Reading, post-test and evaluation times are estimates.

This course is designed to satisfy the quality requirements state boards set for continuing education. Requirements vary by state, and confirming that a course fits your renewal is up to you. Each state’s own acceptance statement is in the credit panel on this page.

1. Choi JY, Kim SK, Hong J, Park H, Yang SS, Park D, Song MK. Overground Gait Training With a Wearable Robot in Children With Cerebral Palsy: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(7):e2422625. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.22625. PMID: 39037815; PMCID: PMC11265136. Trial registration: CRIS identifier KCT0006273.
2. All findings, figures, and conclusions in this course come from that single trial report. Where the authors described their own recommendations or cautions, the course attributes them to the authors rather than restating them as practice direction.