The effect of robotic walking exercises on balance in stroke patients

The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of robotic walking exercises on balance in patients with stroke. Thirty-one patients aged 45-75 years who were diagnosed with stroke at Algomed Hospital were included in the study. 16 of these patients get conventional therapy 30-45 min. in total 24 days and the other 15 patients were treated and get also 20-30 min. in total 8 times robotic walking exercises. Sociodemografik and antropometric characteristic of patents were recorded. BMİE upper extremity, BMİE lower extremity, BMIE hand, Functional Independence Measure(FIM), Functional Ambulance Scale(FAS), Berg Balance Score have been recorded before and after the treatment. There was a significant increase in the BMIE Upper Extremity(p=0.01), BMIE Lower Extremity(0.05), BMİE Hand(0.04), FIM(0.01), FAS(0.03), Berg Balance Score(0.00) when the changes in the values of the patients before and after conventional treatment were compared. There was a significant increase in the BMİE upper extremity(p=0.04), BMIE Lower Extremity(0.00), BMIE Hand(0.025), FIM(0.02), FAS(0.01), Berg Balance Score(0.01) when the changes in the values before and after the treatment of patients receiving robotic walking exercises in addition to conventional treatment on the other side were compared. There was an increase in the BMIE Lower Extremity score only when the differences between the pre and posttreatment values were compared between the groups. The result of these study is only robotic walking exercises can not get the place of conventional therapy but robotic gait training and conventional therapy have been shown to have a more positive effect on balance. Key words: Stroke, Robotic Walking Exercises, Balance, Conventional Therapy