Sit-to-stand Training With Interactive Feedback in Chronic Stroke

Effects of Sit-to-stand Training With Interactive Feedback on Muscle Contraction Sequences and Weight Bearing Symmetry in Individuals With Chronic Stroke

The major problems of people with chronic stroke include muscle weakness, sensory alteration, and inter-muscular coordination impairment. Inter-muscular coordination impairment caused altered muscle contraction sequences and weight-bearing asymmetry during functional activities. Sit-to-stand (STS) training is often used to improve functional activities among post-stroke subjects. However, the improvement may come from compensatory movements. Using compensatory movement may cause muscle weakness in the affected side and increase fall risk. This study will develop a novel STS training system with interactive visual and audio feedback emphasizing weight transferring and weight bearing. The present study aims to investigate the effects of sit-to-stand training with interactive visual and audio feedback on muscle contraction sequences and weight bearing symmetry in individuals with chronic stroke.

This is a prospective randomized single-blinded controlled trial with pre- and post-measurements. 20 individuals will be recruited, and randomly assigned to experimental or control group. Statistical data analysis will be done by SPSS 24.0. Baseline characteristics will be analyzed using independent t-test or Chi-square test. Repeated measures two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Tukey's post-hoc analysis will be used for time-by-group comparisons. The significant level is set at 0.05.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Diagnosis of stroke ≥ 6 months
• Mini-mental state examination (MMSE) ≥ 24 points
• Brunnstrom lower limb recovery stage: ≥ stage 3
• Be able to independently perform STS for at least 10 times
• Single STS >1.7 seconds
• Be able to walk ≥10 meters independently

Exclusion Criteria:

• Any other musculoskeletal, neurological and cardiovascular diseases
• Have visual or language impairments