The short term-effects of both feet plantar vibration in post stroke patients balance

Abstract

Background and Aim: Balance disorder is a common problem in post stroke patients. Vibration therapy is one of the interventions that is used to treat this impairment in physiotherapy. There are several studies on the effects of more affected foot plantar vibration on balance, however according to the researchers this cerebral lesion causes bilateral side effects in the body. So the aim of this study was to investigate the shortterm effects of both feet plantar vibration on the balance of post stroke patients. Methods: This pretest-posttest clinical study included 12 post stroke patients (8 male and 4 female, mean age 52.41 ± 9.03 years). The participants received one session of 5-min vibration stimuli (frequency, 100 Hz) to the plantar region on both feet. Mini-Balance Evaluation Systems Test (Mini-BESTest) score and plantar cutaneous sensation by Semmes Weinstein monofilament examination (SWME) were assessed before and immediately after the intervention. Results: Mini-BESTest mean total score improved significantly (p ≤ 0.001) after both feet vibration and these results were supported by a large effect size (Cohen d = 2.83). Mean number of detected points by SWME decreased after vibration therapy (p = 0.06) but it was not statistically significant. Conclusion: The findings suggest that local vibration applied directly to the plantar region of both feet in post-stroke patients could be an appropriate physiotherapy intervention to improve their balance.

Keywords: Vibration; balance; stroke