Abstract
Background: India has high Stroke prevalence. Stroke causes motor & sensory loss which contributes to balance & gait impairment. Multisensory exercises & Vision deprived training helps re-train sensory pathway & regain function. Many individual studies have been conducted but there is limited evidence on which training program is more effective. Thus, present study aimed at comparing 2 exercise protocol to find out which is more effective on balance & gait speed. Material & methodology: With ethical clearance & written consents,40 (aged 40-60 years), were selected & randomly assigned to 2 groups by chit method: Group A (evens)[ multisensory training] & Group B(odds)[ vision deprived training]. Pre & post (after 6 weeks) assessment done, for balance = Berg’s balance scale & gait speed = 10 Meter walk test.
Group Aà 5 minutes = warm up, 30 minutes = multisensory balance training program
Group Bà 5 minutes = warm up, 30 minutes = vision deprived balance training.
Analysisà within group = paired t test & between group = unpaired t test. Result: Within groups showed significant difference (p=0.00). On comparison, between groups showed no significant difference for balance (p= 0.85) & gait speed (p=0.94). Discussion: multisensory training activates the proprioceptive and somatosensory system. Vision deprivation causes compensatory plastic changes in the brain that is in the absence of one sensory system the other systems take charge to help the brain adjust to the changes. Conclusion: Both training program are equally effective on balance & gait speed in stroke patients.
Keywords: Berg’s balance scale, Multisensory training, Stroke, Vision Deprived Balance Training