TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2014//
TI  - Balance and gait training with augmented feedback improves balance confidence in people with Parkinson's disease: A randomized controlled trial
JO  - Neurorehabilitation and neural repair
A1  - Shen, Xia
A1  - Mak, Margaret K. Y.
SP  - 524
EP  - 535
VL  - 28
IS  - 6
N2  - BACKGROUND: . Fear of falling has been identified as an important and independent fall-risk predictor in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, there are inconsistent findings on the effects of balance and gait training on balance confidence. OBJECTIVE: . To explore whether balance and gait training with augmented feedback can enhance balance confidence in PD patients immediately after treatment and at 3- and 12-month follow-ups. METHODS: . A total of 51 PD patients were randomly assigned to a balance and gait training (BAL) group or to an active control (CON) group. The BAL group received balance and gait training with augmented feedback, whereas CON participants received lower-limb strength training for 12 weeks. Outcome measures included Activities-Specific Balance Confidence (ABC) Scale, limits-of-stability test, single-leg-stance test, and spatiotemporal gait characteristics. All tests were administered before intervention (Pre), immediately after training (Post), and at 3 months (Post3m) and 12 months (Post12m) after treatment completion. RESULTS: . The ABC score improved marginally at Post and significantly at Post3m and Post12m only in the BAL group (P < .017). Both participant groups increased their end point excursion at Post, but only the BAL group maintained the improvement at Post3m. The BAL group maintained significantly longer time-to-loss-of-balance during the single-leg stance test than the CON group at Post3m and Post12m (P < .05). For gait characteristics, both participant groups increased gait velocity, but only the BAL group increased stride length at Post, Post3m, and Post12m (P < .017). CONCLUSIONS: . Positive findings from this study provide evidence that BAL with augmented feedback could enhance balance confidence and balance and gait performance in patients with PD.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1545-9683
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1545968313517752
ID  - ref1
ER  -