The short term-effects of both feet plantar vibration in post stroke patients balance

Background and Aim: Balance disorder is a common problem in post stroke patients. Vibra- tion therapy is one of the interventions that is used to treat this impairment in physiotherapy. There are several studies on the effects of more affected foot plantar vibration on balance, how- ever according to the researchers this cerebral lesion causes bilateral side effects in the body. So the aim of this study was to investigate the short- term effects of both feet plantar vibration on the balance of post stroke patients. Methods: This pretest-posttest clinical study inc- luded 12 post stroke patients (8 male and 4 fem- ale, mean age 52.41 ± 9.03 years). The partici- pants received one session of 5-min vibration stimuli (frequency, 100 Hz) to the plantar region on both feet. Mini-Balance Evaluation Systems Test (Mini-BESTest) score and plantar cutaneous sensation by Semmes Weinstein monofilament examination (SWME) were assessed before and immediately after the intervention. Results: Mini-BESTest mean total score impro- ved significantly (p ≤ 0.001) after both feet vib- ration and these results were supported by a large effect size (Cohen d = 2.83). Mean number of detected points by SWME decreased after vibra- tion therapy (p = 0.06) but it was not statistically significant. Conclusion: The findings suggest that local vib- ration applied directly to the plantar region of both feet in post-stroke patients could be an app- ropriate physiotherapy intervention to improve their balance.