Background & aim: There are various treatment methods, such as land-based training, hydrotherapy,  locomotor training with bodyweight support and functional electrical stimulation after spinal cord injury. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the effect of conventional exercise and locomotor training quality of life in incomplete paraplegic persons.

Methods: In the present quasi-experimental study, 17 voluntary paraplegic spinal cord injured volunteer participants were selected by availability. The participants were randomly assigned to locomotor group (N=10) and conventional exercises group (N=7). The participants were trained for 12 weeks, four sessions per week and 60 min per session. Locomotor sessions included 15 min warm-up on fixed gear bike, 45 min locomotor with 50% body weight and 10 min cold-down finally. 10% load was added each week. Traditional exercises sessions included 15 min warm-up plus 45 min stretch exercise and resistance training. The first samples were taken 24 h before the first session and the second samples were taken 48 h after the last session (after 12 weeks).

Results: The data revealed that in the locomotor training group, there was significant reduction in serum BDNF in comparison to traditional training group. The data indicated that there were significant differences physical functioning (P = 0.039), role-physical (P = 0.001), bodily pain                     (P = 0.001), general health (P = 0.001), vitality (P = 0.001),  social functioning(P = 0.001),  role-emotional (P = 0.001), mental health (P = 0.001), between locomotor and conventional exercise groups. On the other hand, there were no significant differences in terms of physical (P = 0.313) and mental (P = 0.257) quality of life between two groups.

Conclusions: The results displayed that in some aspects of quality of life were observed significant differences between the two types of rehabilitation intervention, but overall both practice and effective achievements in improving the quality of life for people with paraplegia with the same.