Journal de physiothérapie et de réadaptation physique

A Study to Compare the Effect of Ankle Exercises on Balance Vs. Ankle Exercises with Visual Feedback on Balance in Stroke Subjects

Abstract

Christina Kurien and Prem Kumar

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of ankle exercises on balance vs. ankle exercises with visual feedback on balance in stroke subjects.
Subjects and Methods: In this study, 30 stroke patients were randomly and equally assigned. They performed ankle exercises for 1 h, five times per week for three weeks. The patients balance ability was measured using Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Timed Up and Go test (TUG) before and after the exercises to compare the effect of ankle exercises. The Stroke Specific Quality of Life (SSQOL) was also used before and after the exercises.
Results: In this study the between group mean difference of BBS was 4 ± 3.82, the between group mean difference of TUG was 3.2 ± 0.72 and between group mean difference of SSQOL was 7.8 ± 2.22. The Baseline comparability was analysed using independent t-test and level of significance is p<0.05. This showed that patients in both groups improved significantly following the intervention and the patients treated with ankle exercises with visual feedback on balance had significant improvement in comparison to the patients treated with ankle exercises.
Conclusion: Ankle exercises with visual feedback had a positive effect on stroke patients to improve balance.