Improving balance with wobble board exercises in stroke patients: single-blind, randomized clinical trial

Background: A primary objective in stroke rehabilitation is to restore functional balance, in order to reduce falls. Objectives: To identify the efficacy and safety of wobble board exercises when combined with conventional physiotherapy, in improving balance in hemiplegic patients following ischemic strokes. Methods: A block-randomized, controlled, observer blinded, superiority trial was conducted on ambulatory hemiplegic patients following ischemic strokes of middle cerebral artery territory. Subjects in the control group received a conventional physiotherapy regime. Subjects in the intervention group received training on a wobble board combined with conventional physiotherapy. Main Outcome measures were the improvement of Four-Square Step Test (FSST) and the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), both of which assess functional balance at the end of 6 weeks. Results: Thirty patients were randomly assigned for intervention (n = 15) and control (n = 15) groups. One patient dropped out from the study, leaving 29 eligible for the analysis. Intervention and control groups were comparable in sociodemographic characteristics and pre-test scores of balance. A repeated-measures MANOVA showed a significant difference in improvement of balance between the two study groups after 6 weeks [F(1,28) = 32.6,p = .000; Wilk’s lambda = .46]. The improvement of mean score of balance in interventional group was greater than in the control group [BBS:9.5 (intervention group),5.5 (control group); FSST:3.9 (intervention group),1.7 (control group)]. There were no injuries in both groups. Conclusions: Wobble board exercises, when combined with the conventional physiotherapy, are safe and effective in restoring functional balance in patients with hemiplegia following ischemic strokes.