Efficacy of treatment with a kinaesthetic ability training device on balance and mobility after stroke: a randomized controlled study

Objective: To investigate whether the addition of a kinaesthetic ability training device could enhance the effect of a conventional rehabilitation programme on balance and mobility in hemiparetic patients late after stroke. Design: Randomized, controlled, assessor-blinded trial. Setting: The rehabilitation ward of a university hospital. Thirty hemiparetic patients (mean age (SD) of 57.4 (8.1) years) late after stroke (mean time since stroke (SD) 545.2 (99.9) days) were assigned randomly to an experimental or a control group. Interventions: The control group (n=15) participated in a conventional rehabilitation programme. The experimental group (n=15) participated in balance training with a kinaesthetic ability training device in addition to a conventional rehabilitation programme for four weeks, five days a week. Outcome measures: Kinaesthetic ability training static and dynamic balance indices, balance and lower extremity subscores of the Fugl-Meyer Stroke Assessment Instrument (FMA), total motor and locomotor subitem scores of the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) were evaluated at baseline and after treatment. Results: The experimental group had greater improvement in measures of balance including static (P=0.045) and dynamic balance index (P=0.001) and FMA balance score (P=0.001) than the control group. No between-group differences were detected in subscore of FMA, total motor and locomotor subscores of FIM. There were significant improvements in balance subscores of FMA, static and dynamic balance indexes in the experimental group and in sub-item scores of FIM and lower extremity scores of FMA in both groups. Conclusion: Kinaesthetic ability training in addition to a conventional rehabilitation programme is effective in improving balance late after stroke. However, this improvement is not reflected in individual functional status.