Exploration of the clinical potential of a new lower limb biofeedback modality for treatment, diagnosis and assessment : a 4 month study

Financial constraints are constantly being put upon the rehabilitation team to prove validity of treatment and continuation of therapy (Sheldon R 2004). There are increasing demands for empirical proof of efficacy of treatment. It was thought that this device may provide a means of measurement that would help to show validity of treatment and enhance treatment method. The SmartStep™ device was 5 used to assess all incoming patients in a busy private physiotherapy clinic and the subsequent collected data was analysed. The use of the SmartSep device was compared to not using the SmartStep device and using the SmartStep device with added biofeedback. A total of 24 patients were included in the active part of the trial. Fifteen female patients with an average age of 46.7 years (range 18 - 83 years) and 9 male patients with an average age of 51.2 years (range 17 - 83 years). T tests were used to compare the controlling group with the active groups and to compare if added benefit was achieved by adding biofeedback. Though not statistically viable because of the poor confidence factor, a trend could be seen that showed greater change when the device is added and an even greater change when the biofeedback was added.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo