Effects of sensory training and electrical stimulation in sole of the foot on proprioceptive and cortical sensations in patients with acute hemiplegia

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the sole of foot sensory education and electrical stimulation on proprioceptive and cortical senses in patients with acute hemiplegia, applied 5 days per week for 3 weeks. In the study, 15 subjects with an average age of 69.4±8.3 years were included in the sensory education group and 15 subjects with an average age of 65.8±7.2 years were included in the electrical stimulation group. In addition to neurodevelopmental treatment, a group was given sensory training, while the other group received electrical stimulation. Patients were evaluated twice before and after treatment. The cognitive level of the patients was evaluated with Mini Mental Test and the sole of foot sensations which are cortical and proprioceptive were evaluated with sensory tests. In our study's; data analysis "Statistical Package for Social Sciences" (SPSS) Version 25.0 program was used. As a result, there was a significant improvement in all proprioceptive and cortical senses in both groups before and after the study (p≤0.05). When comparing two groups, it was found that the sensory group was superior to the electrical stimulation group only in the sense of passive motion (p≤0.05). There was no significant difference between the two groups in other senses (p>0.05).