Balance and mobility following stroke: Effects of physical therapy interventions with and without biofeedback/forceplate training

Background and Purpose. Visual biofeedback/forceplate systems are often use d for treatment of balance disorders. In this study, the researchers invest igated whether the addition of visual biofeedback/forceplate training could enhance the effects of other physical therapy interventions on balance and mobility following stroke. Subjects. The study included a sample of conven ience of (13)under bar outpatients with hemiplegia who ranged in age from 3 0 to 77 years (X=60.4, SD=15.4) and were 15 to 538 days poststroke. Methods . Subjects were assigned randomly to either an experimental group or a cont rol group when the study began, and their cognitive and visual-perceptual s kills were tested by a psychologist. Subjects were also assessed using the Berg Balance Scale and the Timed "Up & Go" Test before and after 4 weeks of physical therapy. Both groups received physical therapy interventions desi gned to improve balance and mobility 2 to 3 times per week. The experimenta l group trained on the NeuroCom Balance Master for 15 minutes of each 50-mi nute treatment session. The control group received other physical therapy f or 50 minutes. Results. Following intervention, both groups scored higher o n the Berg Balance Scale and required less time to perform the Timed "Up & Go" Test. These improvements corresponded to increased independence of bala nce and mobility in the study population. However, a comparison of mean cha nges revealed no differences between groups. Discussion and Conclusion. Alt hough both groups demonstrated improvement following 4 weeks of physical th erapy interventions, no additional effects were found in the group that rec eived visual biofeedback/forceplate training combined with Other physical t herapy.