The effects of dynamic motion instability system training on motor function and balance after stroke: A randomized trial.

Only 40 patients at a single centre, and the authors themselves call this a pilot study, so the size of the advantage is uncertain. Treatment was limited to 8 weeks with no follow-up afterwards, so whether the extra lower-limb gain lasts is unknown. Only the assessors were blinded. Patients knew whether they were on the sliding plate, and the authors admit the single-blind procedure may have biased the results. Everyone could already stand alone and had to score 23 or above on the MMSE, so it says nothing about patients who cannot stand or who have significant cognitive impairment. The people assessing the participants were kept unaware of group allocation, but the therapists delivering treatment were not, and much of the benefit may come from the extra attention of one-to-one training rather than the sliding plate itself.

Do not read this as proof that the sliding plate beats general balance training for balance. The change in Berg Balance Scale scores did not differ between the groups (P = 0.433). With 40 patients at one centre and only the assessors blinded, a therapist should treat the lower-limb and walking advantage as promising rather than established.