Efficacy of the structured balance awareness program on perceived balance confidence and fear-related maladaptive behaviour in post-stroke survivors

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The risk of falling for individuals with stroke is about twice that of healthy older adults. Lack of appropriate initiative to address the fear-related maladaptive behaviour can manifest itself in the form of loss of physical functions resulting in disability and handicap. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effectiveness of the structured balance awareness program (SBAP) in improving the perceived balance confidence, and thereby modifying the fear-related maladaptive behaviour in post-stroke survivors. METHODS: A randomized experimental control design was used on a sample of 97 post-stroke survivors aged between 55 to 75 years. The patients received either the SBAP or health awareness program (HAP) for eight weeks and were compared on Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) Scale, Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and Falls Efficacy Scale International (FESI). RESULTS: A paired t-test demonstrated statistically significant improvement among all the variables in the SBAP group. An independent t-test exhibited a statistically significant improvement on ABC (t = 2.57, p = 0.012*), BBS (t = 3.32, p = 0.001*) and FESI (t = 3.38, p = 0.001*) in the SBAP group. CONCLUSION: The study showed that the SBAP was effective in minimizing the fear-related maladaptive behaviour in post-stroke survivors.