Comparison of Otago Exercises Versus Resistance Training on Functional Performance in Stroke Patients

Stroke is a focal neurological deficit. It causes functional impairments and activity limitation in the body after survival from the sudden attack, which includes disorders in language, movement, cognition and eating difficulties. Motor deficits are most common in stroke, it is directly related to reduction in strength, balance, gait speed and quality of life. Emotional and physical changes also occur, these factors combine to affect everyday activities. By improving functional performance and strength in lower extremity, it will improve gait speed and balance control.

Around the world among the major causes of death, stroke stands on the third number. Task-specific progressive resistance training uses the preserved energy in muscles to increase strength and balance. Training has to be carried out at a specific intensity and increase progressively which will lead to improvement in fitness and strength level. Progressive resistance training is an umbrella that consists of multiple different and unique set of interventions being used worldwide all with one primary target that is to use resistance and improve muscle strength. Because strength training has been proven to be beneficial in improving stroke symptoms, it has been included in this study.

Otago Exercise is an evidence-based strength and balance program. It has been shown to be effective in reducing the number of fall and fall-related injuries by 35%. The advantages of Otago exercise are that it is cost-effective, the exercise protocol is easy to learn and easy to perform. Once learned they can be performed at home by the patient without assistance or by using action observation technique. They are effective in improving lower extremity strength, balance and gait parameters in healthy older adults or people with disorders. This exercise program strengthens the antigravity extensors and increases proprioceptive input of the body by a stable base of support during mobility, thus improving muscle strength and overall improvement in balance control, walking speed and strength. Repeated movement will produce the effect of neuroplasticity in the brain producing efficient, controlled and meaningful movement.

Although Otago exercises have been used in previous studies worldwide and showed effectiveness in participants' strength and balance control. Recent evidence suggests that Otago exercises provide high-quality results to support its beneficial effects on reducing falls in osteoarthritic patients. It was also observed that this exercise program was safe and helped in improving balance and mobility in Alzheimer's disease. However, to our knowledge, there is limited literature available on the use of Otago exercises in chronic stroke patients in Pakistan.