Portable bedside treadmill training (PBTT) is a safe and feasible way to reduce barriers to early physical therapy and ambulation among hospitalized adults, according to new research from a team including Dr. Samantha Balistreri, an assistant professor of practice and the program director of Health Sciences at Arcadia University. 

Across 158 PBTT sessions involving 77 patients, most of whom were in the ICU, the researchers found that patients had the ability to walk farther distances or longer durations with treadmill training than during hallway trips. In addition, a large number of the sessions (75%) required only the treating physical therapist to be present, allowing other therapists and staff members to be free to attend to other patients.

“Patients in the ICU often have multiple lines and tubes for monitoring, e.g. IV access, oxygen delivery, or mechanical ventilation, which makes traditional hallway ambulation resource-intensive and time-consuming,” Balistreri explained. “Our team wanted to explore whether portable bedside treadmill training could offer a safe, efficient way to provide meaningful ambulation-based therapy without the logistical barriers of leaving the patient’s room.”

Balistreri teamed up with colleagues at the University of Michigan, University of Colorado, and University of Kentucky to publish the findings in the Journal of Acute Care Physical Therapy. 

She became involved in this study early in her career, shortly after starting as a physical therapist at the University of Michigan Medicine. She served as a “super-user” of the bedside treadmill, helping other therapists learn how to use the equipment safely and effectively, and encouraging its integration into clinical practice.

“I was working on the cardiopulmonary physical therapy team at the time and had a strong interest in both neurologic rehabilitation and research,” she said. “When the lead author asked if anyone was interested in participating, I jumped at the opportunity. Even as a student, I knew I wanted to pursue a path that combined clinical practice, research, and education, so this project aligned well with my professional goals.”

Balistreri and her colleagues began this project in 2019. However, the COVID-19 pandemic created challenges and delays in collecting data, leading to the results being published just recently. Balistreri takes as much positive from that as possible.

“Interestingly, the pandemic highlighted additional benefits of bedside treadmill training, particularly for patients on isolation precautions who otherwise had very limited mobility options,” she explained. “It also reinforced the importance of flexible, bedside rehabilitation strategies that can adapt to changing clinical environments.”

In the future, the researchers hope to explore patient-reported outcomes, the long-term functional benefits, and how this intervention compares directly to traditional ambulation approaches.