Effects of Pedalo® training on balance and fall risk in stroke patients.
Do-Yeon Kim, Chae-Gil Lim
PMID 28744037WHAT IT FOUND
Stroke patients who did Pedalo balance training with conventional physical therapy improved some balance scores more than those doing treadmill training with conventional physical therapy.
Fall risk scores went down in both groups, but not more with Pedalo.
Key findings
01Patients who received conventional physical therapy plus Pedalo Stabilizer T training showed greater overall and medial-lateral balance improvements after 8 weeks than patients who received treadmill gait training plus conventional physical therapy.
02Fall risk scores were lower after 8 weeks in both groups, but there were no significant differences between groups at post-test.
03All 31 enrolled patients completed the protocol with no medical complications.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only 31 patients were included, so the study is small and the results may be imprecise. Both groups received conventional physical therapy, so the study cannot separate the contribution of Pedalo training from usual therapy. The paper does not clearly state which outcome was primary, and the between-group comparison for fall risk was null. Patients varied in age, gender, height, weight and baseline balance ability, but the same Stabilize T and method were used for all subjects; some subjects had trouble training. The study enrolled patients who could walk for more than 30 seconds and had MMSE-K scores greater than 24, so it may not apply to patients with more severe walking or cognitive impairment.
Declared interests
The authors declared that there is no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that Pedalo training alone improves balance or lowers fall risk. Both groups also received conventional physical therapy, and the study did not separate the effect of the Pedalo equipment from usual therapy. It also found no significant difference between groups in post-test fall risk.