Effects of Balance Control Training on Functional Outcomes in Subacute Hemiparetic Stroke Patients

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of balance control training using a newly developed balance control trainer (BalPro) on the balance and gait of patients with subacute hemiparetic stroke. METHODS: Forty-three subacute stroke patients were assigned to either a balance control training (BCT) group or a control group. The BCT group (n=23) was trained with BalPro for 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week for 2 weeks, and received one daily session of conventional physical therapy. The control group (n=20) received two sessions of conventional physical therapy every day for 2 weeks. The primary outcome was assessment with the Berg Balance Scale (BBS). Secondary outcomes were Functional Ambulation Category (FAC), the 6-minute walking test (6mWT), Timed Up and Go (TUG), the Korean version of Modified Barthel Index (K-MBI), and the manual muscle test (MMT) of the knee extensor. All outcome measures were evaluated before and after 2 weeks of training in both groups. RESULTS: There were statistically significant improvements in all parameters except MMT and FAC after 2 weeks of treatment in both groups. After training, the BCT group showed greater improvements in the BBS and the 6mWT than did the control group. CONCLUSION: Balance control training using BalPro could be a useful treatment for improving balance and gait in subacute hemiparetic stroke patients.