ACTA FAC
MED NAISS 2010; 27 (1):
39-43|
ACTA FAC
MED NAISS 2010; 27 (1):
39-43 |
Original article
UDC: 616.831-005.1-085.8
The Measure Of Balance In Sitting In Patients At Post - Stroke Rehabilitation
Milan Mandić1, Nataša Rančić2
1Clinic for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Clinical Center
Niš, Serbia
2Faculty of Medicine in Niš, Serbia
SUMMARY
Functional recovery is a key determinant of post-stroke rehabilitation. The aim
of the paper was to show the importance of sitting balance measuring in
post-stroke rehabilitation. Prospective cohort study involved 25 (9 men and 16
women) patients who suffered from the first stroke. The study was conducted in
the Clinic for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in Niš, from March 1st till
June 30th 2009. Functional status was assessed by using Barthel Index at the
admission to the Clinic, one month and three months after the stroke. Four-point
scale was used for sitting balance measuring: 4-normal balance, 3-good, 2-fair,
1-poor. To determine the etiology of the stroke computerised tomography was
used. Of all 25 patients, 18 (72.0%, 6 men and 12 women) had left haemiparesis
and seven (28.0%, 3 men and four women) had right haemiparesis. Twenty-one
(84.0%) patients had thromboembolic stroke and 4 (16.0%) had hemorrhage. The
mean age of patients was 68.07±9.3 years. A strong positive correlation was
found between Barthel Index score and each weekly sitting balance score. At
first measuring, the correlation between Barthel Index and sitting balance was
r=0.699; (p<0.001), at second r=0.933 (p<0.001) and at trird, r=0.839 (p<0.01).
Multiple evaluations over time identified those patients whose sitting balance
improved during rehabilitation in our unit; after grouping the patients into
those with normal, improved, and poor sitting balance, we found a significant
difference in the Barthel Index scores among these three groups. The group of
patients whose sitting balance improved had higher Barthel Index scores than the
group whose sitting balance did not improve.
Key words: sitting balance, rehabilitation, stroke