Relationship between balance and cognitive functions for patients after ischemic stroke while applying physiotherapy in the second phase of rehabilitation

Giedrė Zaveckaitė. Relationship between balance and cognitive functions for patients after ischemic stroke while applying physiotherapy in the second phase of rehabilitation. Master’s thesis. Supervisor - Prof. Dr. E. Lendraitienė; Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Medical academy, Faculty of Nursing, Rehabilitation Clinic. Kaunas, 2020. 61p. The aim of this study: To evaluate the relationship between balance and cognitive functions in patients with ischemic stroke while applying physiotherapy in the second phase of rehabilitation. Objectives of the research: 1.To evaluate balance of patients with ischemic stroke before and after physiotherapy. 2. To evaluate cognitive functions of patients with ischemic stroke before and after physiotherapy. 3. To evaluate the relationships between balance and cognitive functions before and after physiotherapy. Research methods: The study included 29 subjects following an ischemic stroke. Participants were classified into two groups: 1st group - 15 patients who had undergoing routine physiotherapy and tasks oriented on balance training, 2nd group - 14 patients who had undergoing routine physiotherapy and tasks oriented on cognitive functions. Participants of both groups performed physiotherapy program, 2 times a day for 30 minutes. All patients were evaluated before and after physiotherapy using the Biodex balance system for: fall risk, postural stability, limits of stability, time to perform a stability test and Modified Clinical Test of Sensory Interaction in Balance. Also patients were evaluated using these clinical tests: The Rivermead mobility index, The Montreal Cognitive Assessment MoCA and Motivation for TBI Rehabilitation Questionnaire. Data analysis performed using SPSS 22.0 software. Conclusions: There was a significant improvement in the balance of patients with ischemic stroke, in both groups. There was a significant improvement in cognitive function in both cohorts of patients with ischemic stroke. Only for the first group, which applied to the usual physiotherapy and tasks oriented on balance training, obtained statistically significant relationship between the balance task performance and cognitive functions. Improvements in cognitive function were also found to improve all patient mobility