Published online Aug 6, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i22.6268
Peer-review started: April 7, 2021
First decision: April 28, 2021
Revised: May 7, 2021
Accepted: May 24, 2021
Article in press: May 24, 2021
Published online: August 6, 2021
Processing time: 111 Days and 11.5 Hours
Dysfunction in stroke patients has been a problem that we committed to solve and explore. Physical therapy has some effect to regain strength, balance, and coordination. However, it is not a complete cure, so we are trying to find more effective treatments.
To observe the effect of whole-body vibration training (WVT) on the recovery of balance and walking function in stroke patients, which could provide us some useful evidence for planning rehabilitation.
The clinical data of 130 stroke participants who underwent conventional rehabilitation treatment in our hospital from January 2019 to August 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. The participants were divided into whole-body vibration training (WVT) group and non-WVT (NWVT) group according to whether they were given WVT. In the WVT group, routine rehabilitation therapy was combined with WVT by the Galileo Med L Plus vibration trainer at a frequency of 20 Hz and a vibration amplitude of 0+ACY-plusmn+ADs-5.2 mm, and in the NWVT group, routine rehabilitation therapy only was provided. The treatment course of the two groups was 4 wk. Before and after treatment, the Berg balance scale (BBS), 3 m timed up-and-go test (TUGT), the maximum walking speed test (MWS), and upper limb functional reaching (FR) test were performed.
After 4 wk training, in both groups, the BBS score and the FR distance respectively increased to a certain amount (WVT = 46.08 ± 3.41 vs NWVT = 40.22 ± 3.75; WVT = 20.48 ± 2.23 vs NWVT = 16.60 ± 2.82), with P < 0.05. Furthermore, in the WVT group, both BBS score and FR distance (BBS: 18.32 ± 2.18; FR: 10.00 ± 0.92) increased more than that in the NWVT group (BBS: 13.29 ± 1.66; FR: 6.16 ± 0.95), with P < 0.05. Meanwhile, in both groups, the TUGT and the MWS were improved after training (WVT = 32.64 ± 3.81 vs NWVT = 39.56 ± 3.68; WVT = 12.73 ± 2.26 vs NWVT = 15.04 ± 2.27, respectively), with P < 0.05. The change in the WVT group (TUGT: 17.49 ± 1.88; MWS: 6.79 ± 0.81) was greater than that in the NWVT group (TUGT: 10.76 ± 1.42; MWS: 4.84 ± 0.58), with P < 0.05.
The WVT could effectively improve the balance and walking function in stroke patients, which may be good for improving their quality of life.
Core Tip: It is widely known that stroke victims have problems with walking, standing, balance, etc. In these populations, after training with a whole-body vibrator, there were some implications for rehabilitation, as follows: the patient’s quality of movement was improved, which included movements such as standing up, sitting down, standing independently, standing with the eyes closed, standing with the arms held out in front of the body, turning around, crossing with both feet, and standing on one leg; and the speed of the patient’s movement was faster, such as walking straight, getting up from the chair, and sitting down.