Effectiveness of Three Different Surfaces for Balance Training on Ambulant Stroke Patients - A Comparative Study

Balance impairment is important to consider after stroke. [2] The firm surface is been routinely used for balance training, but there is inadequate information about the effects of sand, balance pad and wobble board. [6] So this study is mainly focusing on the balance training on SAND, BALANCE PAD and WOBBLE BOARD and to compare the effects of all three surface. METHODOLOGY In the present experimental study, total of 75 patients with 25 patients randomly allocated in each of three groups (sand, balance pad, wobble board) and given a set of six balance exercises along with routine physiotherapy protocol for 6 days a week for 6 weeks. Pre and post intervention assessment was carried out using BBS, TUG and FRT. RESULTS All the three surfaces are effective for balance training. But sand proved to be significantly better than remaining two with descriptive statistics using ANOVA and post HOC tests. CONCLUSION All three surfaces are effective for balance training in ambulant stroke patients, Moreover SAND is the most effective and can be used as an alternative to remaining two for community based rehabilitation.