The Feasibility of Bal-Ex Training for Stroke to Improve Balance and Quality of Life: A Case Study

摘要

Background: Impairment in postural balance among stroke survivors has been shown to be influenced by dysfunction of motor control and sensory modalities, which in turn limits activities of daily living. We proposed a novel method for balance training that combined input from motor control and sensorimotor systems. Objective: To test the feasibility of the Bal-Ex training. Methods: One subject (female, age = 56 years old, weight = 56 kg, height = 157 cm, body mass index = 22.72 kg/in2) with history of 1 month stroke was involved in this study The subject underwent five sessions of Bal-Ex training for three weeks. The Bal-Ex training is divided into three stages where each stage consists of head rotation and task oriented movements with increasing difficulty (lower to higher center of gravity; eyes opened to eyes closed). The progression of the training was done gradually according to subject's ability. The outcome measures include performance-based balance measured by the Berg balance scale (BBS), and quality of life measured by the Stroke Specific Quality of Life (SS-QOL). Measures were taken during baseline and after 3 weeks. Result: After 5 sessions of treatment, the balance performance improved from 17 to 40 while quality of life from 126 to 170. Conclusion: These observations verify the feasibility of the approach and suggest that the novel balance training (Bal-Ex) may be beneficial for balance performance and quality of life in stroke survivors. However, it is suggested that Bal-Ex training to be tested in subacute and chronic stroke survivors.