Article

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the feasibility of a randomized controlled trial of a
home-based balance intervention for people with cerebellar ataxia. DESIGN: A
randomized controlled trial design. SETTING: Intervention and assessment took
place in the home environment. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 12 people with
spinocerebellar ataxia type 6 were randomized into a therapy or control group.
Both groups received identical assessments at baseline, four and eight weeks. INTERVENTIONS: Therapy group participants undertook balance exercises in front of
optokinetic stimuli during weeks 4-8, while control group participants received
no intervention. MAIN MEASURES: Test-retest reliability was analysed from outcome
measures collected twice at baseline and four weeks later. Feasibility issues
were evaluated using daily diaries and end trial exit interviews. RESULTS: The
home-based training intervention with opto-kinetic stimuli was feasible for
people with pure ataxia, with one drop-out. Test-retest reliability is strong
(intraclass correlation coefficient >0.7) for selected outcome measures
evaluating balance at impairment and activity levels. Some measures reveal trends
towards improvement for those in the therapy group. Sample size estimations
indicate that Bal-SARA scores could detect a clinically significant change of 0.8
points in this functional balance score if 80 people per group were analysed in
future trials. CONCLUSIONS: Home-based targeted training of functional balance
for people with pure cerebellar ataxia is feasible and the outcome measures
employed are reliable.
CI - (c) The Author(s) 2014.

Langue : ANGLAIS