Effect of rhythmic auditory stimulation on gait and balance in hemiplegic stroke patients.
BACKGROUND
Rhythmic auditory stimulation (RAS) improves gait velocity, cadence, and stride length in hemiplegic stroke patients, yet little is known about the effectiveness of RAS on standing balance.


OBJECTIVES
To examine and compare the effectiveness on standing balance and gait parameter of two different types of gait trainings, gait training with RAS versus gait training without RAS, was compared in two groups of hemiplegic stroke patients over a three-week period (RAS group, n = 8; control group = 8).


METHODS
Sixteen hemiplegic stroke patients were included in the study. Standing balance was measured by using Biosway®. Stride length, gait velocity, and cadence were calculated from the number of steps and required time for a 10 m-walk.


RESULTS
Pre- to post-test measures showed a significant improvement in RAS group for overall stability index (p = 0.043), mediolateral index (p = 0.006), anteroposterior index (p = 0.016), gait velocity (p = 0.012), stride length (p = 0.03) and cadence (p = 0.012) over the control group.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study showed that RAS was an effective therapeutic method to improve gait velocity, stride length, cadence, and standing balance in hemiplegic stroke patients.
['Suh|Jee Hyun|JH|', 'Han|Soo Jeong|SJ|', 'Jeon|Seo Young|SY|', 'Kim|Ho Jeong|HJ|', 'Lee|Jeong Eun|JE|', 'Yoon|Tae Sik|TS|', 'Chong|Hyun Ju|HJ|']
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation D000368:Aged D005260:Female D005684:Gait D006429:Hemiplegia D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D004856:Postural Balance D020521:Stroke D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation
Rhythmic auditory stimulation gait balance stroke rehabilitation