A PRELIMINARY STUDY ON EFFECTIVENESS OF CONVENTIONAL AND SYMMETRICAL WEIGHT TRAINING IN STROKE PATIENTS TO PREVENT FALLS

Introduction: Stroke is the leading cause of disability in the elderly and significant source of disability. In the stroke patients the occurrence of fall is one of the essential factors hindering the rehabilitation process. Asymmetrical weight bearing is the major cause for frequent falls in stroke patients. Materials & Methods: In this study 15 patients subjected to Symmetrical weight bearing along with conventional stroke training in Experimental group. Other 15 patients subjected to conventional stroke training alone in control group. After 3 months of training period the pre and post test values of frequency of falls were compared. Results: As per the study results the mean difference of reduced number of falls in experimental group was 5.8 and the mean difference of reduced number of falls in control group was 2.86. The calculated value of experimental group was 31.8 whereas in control group 14.3. Discussion: Stroke patients can be trained easily with conventional weight training exercise which is highly beneficial. Further study can be done with huge number of stroke patients. Conclusion: The study concluded that the number of falls in stroke cases were reduced significantly by using symmetrical weight training exercise and conventional stroke training compared to conventional stroke training alone