Improvement of Gait Symmetry in Patients with Stroke by Motor Imagery.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate effect of gait training with motor imagery (MI) on gait symmetry and self-efficacy offalling in stroke patients.

MATERIAL AND METHOD: Fourteen stroke patients were categorized in the MI (n = 7) and control (n = 7) groups. They were matched by age range, stroke type, paretic side, time since stroke, and severity. All participants received physical therapy and only the MI group received additional MI training. Both groups were trained for 12 sessions over 1 month. Outcome measurements comprised gait symmetry detecting by theforce distribution measurement platform and self-efficacy offalling testing by the Fall Efficacy Scale-International (FES-I). Both groups were assessed three times:.pre-, intermediate- and post-trainings. Comparisons of all variables between and within groups were tested by Mann-Whitney U test and Friedman ANOVA test, respectively.

RESULTS

No significant difference was observed of gait symmetry between MI and control groups. Within group comparison, tendencies of improvement were found in step length and step time symmetry for the MI group. Significant improvements in step length symmetry and FES-I score were found among assessments for the MI group (p<0.05).

CONCLUSION

Gait training with MI enhanced ability of step length symmetry and decreased fear offalling in patients with stroke.