Different weight shift trainings can improve the balance performance of patients with a chronic stroke: A randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Improving balance ability, increasing walking ability, and reducing the occurrence of falls are important objectives in the rehabilitation of stroke patients. Do the posture balance training and the intervention of lateral wedge insoles to improve of balance function and increase walking ability in patients with a chronic stroke? METHODS: A randomized, controlled trial with concealed allocation, intention-to-treat analysis, and blinded assessors. Participants who had a chronic stroke (onset >6 months) were recruited from the rehabilitation and neurology departments of a hospital in central Taiwan. Subjects were divided into 3 groups: a visual biofeedback balance training group, a lateral wedge group, and a control group; apart from their usual rehabilitation program, and both experimental groups received a 6-week training session program. The primary outcome was the balance computerized adaptive test (balance CAT), and secondary outcome was timed up and go (TUG) test. All subjects were evaluated at the baseline, posttraining (6-week), 1st follow-up (10-week), and 2nd follow-up (18-week). RESULTS: A total of 56 subjects were participated in this study, including 38 males and 18 females. The mean age of the subjects was 59.1 years old, and the mean time was 43.7 months after the onset of the stroke. This study found the interaction in groups and measurement time points reached statistical significance of the balance CAT and TUG test (F = 5.740, P < .001; F = 2.926, P = .011; respectively). In addition, the performance of both the visual biofeedback training and lateral wedge group was superior to that of the control group. CONCLUSION: Six-week visual biofeedback training and intervention of 5° lateral wedge insoles can improve the balance ability of patients with a chronic stroke. TRIAL REGISTRY: http://www.chictr.org.cn, ChiCTR-IPR-15007092.