Dual-Task Training With Different Priority Instructional Sets on the Gait Parameters in Patients With Chronic Stroke

Dual-Task Training With Variable Priority Instructional Sets Improve the Gait Parameters in Patients With Chronic Stroke

Balance is controlled through a complex process involving sensory, visual, vestibular and cerebral functioning which get affected by various neurological disorders such as in stroke. Different types of exercises are designed to target to cope up with the imbalance developed due to these neurological disorders. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of dual-task training using two different priority instructional sets in improving gait parameters such as self-selected velocity, fast speed, step length, and stride length in chronic stroke patients.

Balance is controlled through a complex process involving sensory, visual, vestibular and cerebral functioning which get affected by various neurological disorders such as in stroke. Different types of exercises are designed to target to cope up with the imbalance developed due to these neurological disorders. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of dual-task training using two different priority instructional sets in improving gait parameters such as self-selected velocity, fast speed, step length, and stride length in middle cerebral artery chronic stroke patients. A total of thirty middle cerebral artery chronic stroke patients were recruited on the basis of inclusion and exclusion criteria and equally allocated into two groups. Group 1 received dual-task training with fixed priority instructional sets for four weeks and group 2 received dual-task training with variable priority instructional sets for four weeks. The outcome was assessed using a 10-meter walk test and the comparison of footprints on the walkway paper before and after training.

Inclusion Criteria:

• A diagnosed case of middle cerebral artery chronic stroke made by a neurologist and verified using CT/MRI
• Exhibited the age between 45 and 65 years
• Ability to walk 10 meters without assistance
• Their stroke onset within 12 months prior to the study and
• Scored greater than 24 on Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Participants had neurological conditions other than stroke
• Uncontrolled hearing or visual and vestibular impairment
• Took more than 15 seconds on Timed Up & Go (TUG) test
• Had lower extremity amputation
• A case of diagnosed speech-language impairment (not able to respond verbally to auditory stimuli) by a speech-language pathologist and noticed their concurrent participation in another clinical trial