Immediate effects of rest periods on balance control in patients after stroke. A randomized controlled pilot trial.
- Conditions
- I63I61Cerebral infarctionIntracerebral haemorrhage
- Registration Number
- DRKS00013979
- Lead Sponsor
- HELIOS Rehaklinik Damp
- Brief Summary
Objectives: This randomized controlled trial evaluates the effects of two different rest periods between as set of balance exercises after stroke during inpatient rehabilitation. Results: Twenty patients after stroke [11 males; mean (SD) age 65.4 (11.5) years; duration of illness 5.3 (3.4) weeks; 16 (80%) left-sided strokes] were randomly allocated into two groups of either a full rest (FR) of 4 min (n = 10) or a short rest (SR) of 1 min between exercise sets (n = 10). Patients improved from baseline until immediately after exercises in one-leg standing time on the affected leg [SR: mean difference 5.1 s (SD 10.3) and FR: 2.0 s (2.4)] and tandem standing time (TST). [SR: 14.9 s (SD 24.6) and FR: 5.7 s (12.0)], but OLST and TST did not differ significantly between groups (p = 0.35 and p = 0.52, respectively). Trial registration The study was registered retrospectively in the German Register of Clinical Trials with the ID: DRKS00013979.
- Detailed Description
Not available
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- Complete
- Sex
- All
- Target Recruitment
- 20
We will include all patients after first stroke, aged between 45 to 80 years, who are able to walk with physical assistance or supervision of one person (Functional Ambulation Categories, FAC 2 or 3), reduced muscle strength in the affected hip flexors and abductors (defined as Medical Research Council, MRC grade three or four), without apparent limitations in proprioception of the paretic leg (defined as 3 to 6 points in the sensory subtest of the Fugl-Meyer Assessment of the lower limb, FMA) and good to moderate trunk control (defined as more than 48 points in the Trunk Control Test, TCT) and written informed consent.
We will exclude patients with neurological diseases such as dementia or brain tumours, with orthopaedic disease causing pain in the lumbar spine and hip area, severe global aphasia and a pronounced neglect (defined as = 100 points in the Behavioural Inattention Test, BIT).
Study & Design
- Study Type
- interventional
- Study Design
- Not specified
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method - One-leg standing time in seconds (OLST). We used the OLST on the affected leg with the patients having their eyes open as an index of postural stability, with a maximum time of 60 s allowed.<br>- Tandem standing time in seconds (TST). We used the TST with the patients having their eyes open to measure static double stance balance. With this test we measured whether and how long the patient can maintain a tandem standing position (one foot in front of the other foot) without holding on, with a maximum time of 60 s allowed.<br>We measured the OLST and the TST immediately after the last of their six sets of balance exercises and did a retention test of the OLST and the TST 24 hours later.<br>
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method