Article

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of a sliding rehabilitation machine on
balance and gait in chronic stroke patients. DESIGN:
A non-randomized crossover
design. SETTING: Inpatient rehabilitation in a general hospital. SUBJECTS: Thirty
patients with chronic stroke who had medium or high falling risk as determined by
the Berg Balance Scale. INTERVENTIONS: Participants were divided into two groups
and underwent four weeks of training. Group A (n = 15) underwent training with
the sliding rehabilitation machine for two weeks with concurrent conventional
training, followed by conventional training only for another two weeks. Group B
(n = 15) underwent the same training in reverse order. The effect of the
experimental period was defined as the sum of changes during training with
sliding rehabilitation machine in each group, and the effect of the control
period was defined as those during the conventional training only in each group.
MAIN MEASURES: Functional Ambulation Category, Berg Balance Scale, Six-Minute
Walk Test, Timed Up and Go Test, Korean Modified Barthel Index, Modified Ashworth
Scale and Manual Muscle Test. RESULTS: Statistically significant improvements
were observed in all parameters except Modified Ashworth Scale in the
experimental period, but only in Six-Minute Walk Test (P < 0.01) in the control
period. There were also statistically significant differences in the degree of
change in all parameters in the experimental period as compared to the control
period. CONCLUSIONS: The sliding rehabilitation machine may be a useful tool for
the improvement of balance and gait abilities in chronic stroke patients.

Langue : ANGLAIS