Stroke, a debilitating cerebrovascular event, frequently leads to severe motor and sensory impairments resulting in a diminished quality of life. Tai Chi, an ancient Chinese martial art known for its slow, flowing movements, emphasis on breath control, and mindfulness, presents an intriguing avenue for stroke rehabilitation. While cycling exercises facilitates muscle control of the lower limbs, which may allow putting more weight on the affected leg while standing, also beneficial for stroke survivors.
This is two-arm parallel design randomized controlled trial. Participants will be selected by non-probability consecutive sampling technique, fifty stroke patients meeting the inclusion criteria will be randomly allocated into two groups (experimental and control) by online randomizer tool. The experimental group will receive tai chi exercises with cycling exercises and the control group will receive tai chi exercises alone. Treatment session of 60 min will be given 3 times a week for 6 weeks. The following primary and secondary assessment tools will be used, Functional Reach Test and Berg Balance scale for balance, Dynamic Gait Index and Wisconsin Gait Scale for gait assessment and Stroke Specific Quality of life (SS-QOL). The data will be analyzed using SPPS software version. 26.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
50
Tai Chai exercises include Ward Off: This movement involves extending and redirecting energy, promoting stability and balance through controlled shifts in weight and posture. Grasp Sparrow's Tail: It comprises a series of movements that emphasize weight shifting, coordination, and maintaining a stable stance, all of which contribute to improved balance and gait. 3.Single Whip: This movement focuses on shifting weight smoothly from one foot to the other while maintaining proper alignment, helping to enhance proprioception and stability. 4.Brush Knee and Twist Step: By incorporating controlled twists and steps, this movement helps to improve coordination, strengthen leg muscles, and refine gait dynamics. Participants will be assisted to safely mount the ergometer bicycle. The height of the seat will be adjusted to ensure postural balance, upright seating and firm contact of the feet with the pedals. Treatment for the cycling will last for 30 minutes per session.
Tai Chai exercises include Ward Off: This movement involves extending and redirecting energy, promoting stability and balance through controlled shifts in weight and posture. Grasp Sparrow's Tail: It comprises a series of movements that emphasize weight shifting, coordination, and maintaining a stable stance, all of which contribute to improved balance and gait. 3.Single Whip: This movement focuses on shifting weight smoothly from one foot to the other while maintaining proper alignment, helping to enhance proprioception and stability. 4.Brush Knee and Twist Step: By incorporating controlled twists and steps, this movement helps to improve coordination, strengthen leg muscles, and refine gait dynamics. 5.Part the Wild Horse's Mane
Ittefaq Hospital Lahore.
Lahore, Punjab Province, Pakistan
Dynamic Gait Index
The DGI is developed to assess the likelihood of falling in older adults. It is designed to test eight facets of gait. Equipment needed: Box (Shoebox), Cones (2), Stairs, 20' walkway, 15" wide. Completion time is 15 minutes. A four-point ordinal scale, ranging from 0-3 is used for scoring. "0" indicates the lowest level of function and "3" the highest level of function. Total Score = 24. The ICC2 for intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of total DGI scores is 0.86 and 0.91 respectively.
Time frame: 6 weeks
Berg Balance Scale
Balance will be measured using the Berg Balance Scale (BBS).The BBS is a 14-item scale that quantitatively assesses balance through direct observations of the performance ability, with each item scored from 0 ('inability to complete the task') to 4 ('independent completion'). The total possible score is 56 points, with higher scores indicating that the person has better balance. The berg balance scale reliability is 0.98, validity: r=0.91
Time frame: 6 Weeks
Stroke Specific Quality Of Life (SS-QOL):
The perceived QOL will be measured using the Korean version of the Stroke-Specific Quality of Life questionnaire (SS-QOL), which evaluates the level of energy, family roles, language, mobility, mood, social roles, personality, thinking, and self-care using a 5-point Likert scale. The validity of psychometrics measures of the original version of the scale was reported, with a reliability coefficient of 0.73-0.89. Cronbach's values for the subscales of the SS-QOL were 0.92-0.93 among stroke survivors.
Time frame: 6 weeks
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