A Study on the Effect of Lower Extremity Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation Patterns on Stair Ambulation in Stroke Patients

Purpose: To investigate the effectiveness of lower extremity Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation patterns on stair ambulation in stroke patients. Subjects and Methods: In this study, 30 subjects were recruited based on the inclusion criteriae. The therapist performed Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation patterns i. e.10 repetitions of each pattern of 3 sets, 3 days per week for 4 weeks, total of 12 sessions. The patients ability to walk for 6 minutes was analysed via 6-minute walk test. The impact of stroke in individuals health and life was analysed using Stroke Impact Scale and ability to ambulate the stairs efficiently was analysed by Timed Up and Down Stairs test before and after the intervention. Results: In this study the improvement in Stroke Impact Scale was pretest value of 33.648.66 and posttest value of 57.806.66 i. e.76.7 % improvement. The improvement in Timed Up and Down Stairs test was pretest value of 96.6020.73 and post intervention, posttest value was 80.5019.22 i. e.50 % improvement. This showed that there was significant improvement in both Stroke Impact Scale and Timed Up and Down Stairs test following the intervention. Conclusion: Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation patterns had a positive effect on stair ambulation in stroke patients.