Article

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of virtual reality
(VR) treadmill training on the balance skills of patients who have had a stroke.
DESIGN: A total of 14 patients with strokes were recruited and randomly assigned
to receive VR treadmill or traditional treadmill training. The outcome measures
that were included for the study were center of pressure (COP) sway excursion,
COP maximum sway in anterior-posterior direction, COP maximum sway in
medial-lateral direction, COP sway area, bilateral limb-loading symmetric index,
the sway excursion values for the paretic foot (sway excursion/P), paretic limb
stance time (stance time/P), number of steps of the paretic limb (number of
steps/P), and contact area of the paretic foot (contact A/P) during quiet stance,
sit-to-stand transfer, and level walking. RESULTS: There were no significant
improvements in COP-related measures and symmetric index during the quiet stance,
either in the VR treadmill or traditional treadmill training group (P > 0.05).
However, the difference between groups after training in COP maximum sway in
medial-lateral direction during the quiet stance was significant (P = 0.038).
Traditional treadmill training failed to improve sit-to-stand performance,
whereas VR treadmill training improved symmetric index (P = 0.028) and sway
excursion (P = 0.046) significantly during sit-to-stand transfer. The changes of
symmetric index between groups were markedly different (P = 0.045). Finally, both
groups improved significantly in stance time/P, but only VR treadmill training
increased contact A/P (P = 0.034) after training during level walking. The
difference between groups during level walking was not significant. CONCLUSIONS:
Neither traditional treadmill nor VR treadmill training had any effect on balance
skill during quiet stance, but VR treadmill training improved balance skill in
the medial-lateral direction better than traditional training did. VR treadmill
training also improved balance skill during sit-to-stand transfers and the
involvement of paretic limb in level walking more than the traditional one did.

Langue : ANGLAIS