Body awareness therapy in persons with stroke: a pilot randomized controlled trial

Area of Science:

• Rehabilitation science
• Neuroscience
• Physical therapy

Background:

• Stroke survivors often experience impaired balance and mobility.
• Restoring function and confidence is crucial for post-stroke recovery.
• Body awareness therapy is a potential intervention to address these deficits.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of body awareness therapy on balance, mobility, and confidence in individuals post-stroke.
• To compare the outcomes of body awareness therapy with usual care in a pilot randomized controlled trial.

Main Methods:

• A pilot randomized controlled trial was conducted in four primary healthcare centers.
• Participants (n=46) were over six months post-stroke with 100-meter walking ability.
• Intervention group received 8 weeks of group body awareness therapy; control group received usual care.

Main Results:

• No significant differences in changes of balance, mobility, or subjective health were observed between the body awareness therapy and control groups.
• The body awareness therapy group showed significant improvements in Berg Balance Scale, Timed Up and Go cognitive, and 6-minute walk test scores.
• The control group demonstrated significant improvements in Timed Up and Go Cognitive and Timed-Stands Test scores.

Conclusions:

• Eight weeks of body awareness therapy did not yield significant improvements in balance, mobility, balance confidence, or subjective health status compared to usual care in stroke survivors.
• While some within-group improvements were noted, the therapy did not demonstrate a statistically significant advantage over the control condition.