BACKGROUND: The subjective postural vertical (SPV) is affected by training that requires participants to maintain balance; training to achieve sitting balance may also help SPV recovery and activities of daily living (ADLs). OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the medium-term effects of balance training on the postural vertical (PV) and ADLs in patients with stroke. METHODS: Thirty-three patients with stroke were enrolled in this randomized crossover trial. The outcomes were SPV, SPV with eyes opened (SPV-EO), and the Functional Independent Measure (FIM) after the 14-day intervention of experimental or control training. Experimental training consisted of a maximum lateral truncal tilt to the paretic side at 0.25 Hz with or without a 10° wedge, repeated 60 times. Repeated-measures two-way analysis of variance was performed with two factors: intervention and the intervention period. RESULTS: There was no interaction between the control condition and the PV, but there was interaction between the intervention period and using a wedge for SPV variability errors. FIM showed an interaction between the intervention period and the use of a wedge. CONCLUSIONS: Balance training while sitting with a wedge significantly improved the SPV and FIM. This improved cognition and perception, which facilitate difficult dynamic tasks in ADLs.

Introduction: Clarifications regarding the recovery process of the subjective postural vertical (SPV) and activities of daily living in stroke patients are required to help clinicians determine treatment plans. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the characteristics of the longitudinal recovery process of SPV and activities of daily living after stroke.Methods: Overall, 109 patients with stroke were enrolled. Clinical assessments included the SPV and total functional independence measure (FIM), initially and after 1 month. The mean and standard deviation of SPV indicated the directional and variability errors, respectively. Participants were categorized as follows: nondeviation group comprised directional and variability errors within the standard values, deviation of variability errors group comprised directional errors within the standard value and variability errors greater than the standard value, and deviation of both directional and variability errors group comprised directional and variability errors greater than the standard values. In addition, a two-way analysis of variance was performed for initial pre-and post-SPV, and pre-and posttotal FIM scores (p < .05). Results:The deviation of variability errors group, and deviation of both directional and variability errors group, had larger SPV variability errors than did the nondeviation group. Furthermore, the deviation of variability errors group showed a significant improvement in variability errors after 1 month. There was a correlation between the initial SPV with eyes opened variability error and total FIM after 1 month in Pusher patients with unilateral spatial neglect in the deviation of both directional and variability errors group.Conclusions: SPV with eyes opened variability errors and initial FIM score may influence the independence of activities of daily living after 1 month in the recovery of patients with stroke with Pusher and unilateral spatial neglect.

It is important to clarify the recovery process of the subjective postural vertical (SPV) and activities of daily living (ADL) in stroke to help clinicians determine treatment plans. This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of the longitudinal recovery process of SPV and ADL after stroke. In total, 109 patients with stroke were enrolled in the study. Clinical assessments included the SPV and total functional independence measure (FIM), both initially and after 1 month. The SPV mean and standard deviation values indicated the directional and variability errors, respectively. The participants were categorized as follows: group A had directional and variability errors within the standard values, group B had directional errors within the standard value range and variability errors greater than the standard values, and group C had directional and variability errors greater than the standard values. A two-way analysis of variance was performed for SPV and FIM scores (p < 0.05). Groups B and C had larger SPV variability errors than group A. Furthermore, group B showed a significant improvement in variability errors after 1 month. We found that the recovery of SPV variability might be an important predictor of ADL recovery.

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